CO MMISSIO N SESSION Eco no mic a nd Soc i a l Co mmission

f o r A sia a nd t he Pacific

Bangkok, 15 -19 May 2016

Digital Transformation

for Sustainable Development

Jonathan Wong

Adviser on Science, Technology and Innovation

Twitter: @UN_JonathanWong

Digital is disrupting markets

• World’s largest taxi company owns no taxis (Uber)

• Largest accommodation provider owns no real estate (Airbnb)

• World’s most valuable retailer has no inventory (Alibaba)

• Most popular media owner creates no content (Facebook)

• World’s largest movie house owns no cinemas (Netflix)

• Largest software vendors don’t write apps (Apple and Google)

However, innovation policy for the

Sustainable Development Goals must

incorporate social and inclusive innovation

principles.

A social innovation is a novel solution to a

social problem that is more effective,

efficient and sustainable than current

solutions. The value created accrues

primarily to society.

Government of Kazakhstan has adopted the concept of “Green Economy” providing social innovation, economic diversification and environmental sustainability

Inclusive innovation is the means by which

new goods and services are developed for

and/or by those who have been excluded

from the development mainstream and/or

engaging them in the process of

innovation.

Opportunities for EEU Member States to harness

digital technology for sustainable development

• Open innovation to tackle common social

challenges

• Digital trade for shared economic prosperity

Open innovation

describes the process of harnessing

the distributed and collective intelligence of

the “crowd”.

Percentage of online sales of total retail sales: • China 8% • ASEAN 0.2% • E-Commerce accounted for around

2% of total retail sales in Kazakhstan last year, but online retail is predicted to maintain high double-digit growth rates.

Share of total fixed-broadband subscriptions in

the ESCAP region (2014)

Share of total fixed-broadband subscriptions in

the ESCAP region (2014)

UNESCAP Support

UNESCAP can support the EEU through the sharing of best practices of other countries and sub-regional

cooperation mechanisms:

• Sharing regional best practice innovation policies that integrate the economic, social and

environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

• Sharing experiences of other sub-regional innovation work – APEC, ASEAN, SAARC, SPC.

• Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway – a multilateral initiative aiming to increase the availability and

affordability of broadband Internet across Asia and the Pacific, by strengthening the underlying Internet

infrastructure in the region.

• Digital Trade Facilitation - to simplify, standardize and harmonize trade regulations and procedures to

make trade accessible for all. This includes a regional cooperation Treaty to enable cross-border

paperless trade and e-commerce.

And the regional as a whole has much to learn from EEU digital experiences!

Thank You

Email: jwong@un.org

Twitter: @UN_JonathanWong

mailto:jwong@un.org