Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development

Preface

The world has an unprecedented opportunity to improve the lives of billions of people by adopting practical approaches to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. At the request of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN Millennium Project has identified practical strategies to eradicate poverty by scaling up investments in infrastructure and human capital while promoting gender equality and environmental sustainability. These strategies are described in the UN Millennium Project’s report Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which was coauthored by the coordinators of the UN Millennium Project task forces.

The task forces have identified the interventions and policy measures needed to achieve each of the Goals. In Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development, the Task Force on Science, Technology, and Innovation underscores the critical importance of knowledge and innovation for development in every country—an emphasis that is echoed in Investing in Development. Responding to challenges in areas such as economic productivity, agriculture, education, gender inequity, health, water, sanitation, environment, and participation in the global economy will require increased use of scientific and technical knowledge. Technological innovation and the associated institutional adjustments underpin long-term growth and must be at the center of any strategy to strengthen the private sector.

Innovation proposes concrete and practical steps that governments and international agencies can undertake to bring science, technology, and innovation to bear on development.

This report was prepared by a group of leading experts who contributed in their personal capacity and volunteered their time to this important task.