[Air-l] PARIS STATEMENT ON INNOVATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

PARIS STATEMENT ON INNOVATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

An International Conference on “Innovation for Development” was held  
at UNESCO, Paris, on 3-4 May 2007. The conference was co-organised by  
the European Association for the Transfer of Technology, Innovation  
and Industrial Information (TII), and the United Nations Educational,  
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The conference  
included sessions on technology and innovation for development, north- 
south university partnerships, exchanges with emerging countries,  
innovation support policies, services and management, knowledge  
transfer from the research base, corporate social responsibility and  
public-private partnerships. The concluding plenary session included  
a panel discussion and the production of a “Paris Statement on  
Innovation for Development”. Conference speakers and participants  
included both TII members - innovation specialists and managers – and  
representatives of UNIDO, the UNESCO delegations, The World Bank,  
OECD, WIPO, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank  
as well as national development agencies and delegates from  
developing countries, thereby reflecting the interest of TII, in  
partnership with UNESCO, to develop a network on innovation for  
development.


PARIS STATEMENT ON INNOVATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

The European innovation community at the TII-UNESCO conference on  
“Innovation for Development” emphasised the importance of innovation  
for sustainable economic development, and highlighted various support  
measures, policies and programmes that have contributed to successful  
innovation, with particular reference to developing countries and the  
UN Millennium Development Goals.

Innovation depends upon the development of products or services with  
a competitive advantage, responding to market needs and acceptance,  
making effective use of natural and financial resources, human and  
institutional capacity in research and development, in a public  
environment that is supportive of private sector entrepreneurs and  
enterprise.

Innovation and the transfer of technology is particularly facilitated  
by the employment of young graduates familiar with current knowledge,  
financial support for research in key areas, effective intellectual  
property asset protection and management, the dissemination and  
commercial exploitation of research results and new technologies  
through licensing agreements and contract research, spin-off  
companies that commercialize university research, as well as legal  
and business support services which help entrepreneurs succeed in  
complex business environments.

Towards an action plan

In pursuit of the UN Millennium Development Goals and other issues  
such as climate change and the need for clean technology, the  
European innovation community resolves to:

         -
Assist developing countries in promoting innovation, entrepreneurship  
and associated support policies, capacity building, staff exchange  
schemes, studentships and information exchange, in order to build  
comprehensive and efficient innovation support systems,
         -
Develop strong partnerships with developing country counterparts,  
especially European research and cooperation partner countries,
         -
Help increase research and innovation capacities in developing  
countries with support funds, including European funding facilities  
(such as the European Commission and the EIB), the World Bank and the  
EBRD,
         -
Support, protect and disseminate research results from developing and  
emerging countries, through patenting and equitable contract  
practices, support entrepreneurship, incubation and technology  
transfer, financial tools and associated policies and investments.

The innovation community pledges to assist governments in helping to  
promote innovation for development and to address the Millennium  
Development Goals, and calls upon UNESCO and other UN, European,  
national, regional and financial organisations to be partners in this  
process, including all stakeholders in innovation and technology  
transfer.

The innovation community offers and invites partnership with UNESCO  
and related agencies in the following areas of service and activity:

         -
Facilitating dialogue between policy makers and innovation support  
practitioners in developing and emerging countries to improve the  
uptake and application of innovation support services,
         -
Competence building and professional skills development through  
seminars, workshops, summer schools, quality control, innovation  
management techniques and the exchange of good practice,
         -
Increasing education capacities (create modern Master and Executive  
programmes) in entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and  
innovation in developing countries,
         -
Consensus building support among all types of innovation support  
practitioner through seminars, workshops and advice,
         -
Information, dissemination and networking activities including the  
development of website and associated resources, professional  
directory, events calendar, organisation of international, national  
and regional activities, monitoring and brokerage with support  
services and funds.

Jeremy Hunsinger
Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research,  
School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee  
(www.cipr.uwm.edu)

Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a  
thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions,  
think. --Byron