The potential of technology to tackle significant global challenges – such as poverty, climate change, nature loss, sustainable urbanization, water scarcity, and rising inequalities – is immense. The transformational power of innovation can lead the path to sustainable development, prompting a new economic paradigm that is not prefaced on delivering material wealth at the expense of growing environmental risks, ecological scarcities, and social disparities. To this end, TIV was hired by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to conduct an in-depth study on developing an Enabling Strategy for the Transfer of Inclusive Innovations and Technologies in the Asia Pacific region.

​

This pilot project included activities such as an in-depth assessment of technology needs, analysis of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) policies for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, mapping of identified technologies, development of a strategic framework for the creation of a database of inclusive innovations and technologies, regional sharing of best practices, and capacity building of stakeholders to use the framework for technology database development. These measures aligned with recommendations made during the December 2020 Session of the Governing Council of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCCTT), which advocated for capacity-building efforts. In particular, the report and associated activities focused on how inclusive, innovative technologies could be introduced in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan to meet the SDGs. The report culminated in the development of a “roadmap” towards incorporating novel technologies, with the backdrop of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) setting the tone of the discussion.

​

It is expected that this document will serve to provide a guide for policymakers and leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal as they strive to advance their nations into the Digital Age. This pilot project is also expected to foster subsequent ESCAP activities on inclusive innovation to achieve the SDGs in the Asia Pacific.