Committee on Information and Communications Technology & Science, Technology and Innovation

The first session of the Committee on Information and Communications Technology & Science, Technology and Innovation will be held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok from 5-7 October.

The work of the secretariat in information and communications technology for development has specific and unique considerations as it concentrates on assisting Asia-Pacific economies in benefiting from the opportunities offered by the information and communications technology revolution and in preventing the digital divide from becoming a development divide. Accordingly, the primary focus of its substantive work has been to promote information and communications technology connectivity, review regional progress against the World Summit on the Information Society and the Sustainable Development Goals, promote the use of space applications for strengthening e-resilience to disasters, and build capacity in the use of information and communications technology for sustainable development.

The science, technology and innovation programme will focus on bringing attention to science, technology and innovation best practices for sustainable development with an emphasis on policies, investment strategies and effective enabling environments. The programme will also focus on how best to share best practices and on facilitating knowledge-sharing and collective action by creating terms of reference for an Asia-Pacific innovation forum and facilitating knowledge-sharing between the various subregional science, technology and innovation cooperation mechanisms (such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)).

For the latest updates, please visit the ESCAP event page.