ESCWA organized, in cooperation with the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan, an Expert Group Meeting on Promotion of South-South Cooperation in Technology Transfer, held during 20-21 April 2011 at El Hassan Science City, Amman. 

The meeting was opened by the Director of ESCWA Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division Mr. Yousef Nusseir, and the Executive Director for External Affairs of the Royal Scientific Society, Mr. Tareq Al-Hadid. It was attended by 32 participants including experts from universities and research centres, governmental and non-governmental institutions, International Organizations working the field of technology transfer, as well as from financial institutions that work closely with businesses. 

The aim of the meeting was to discuss priority areas of cooperation in technology transfer with the highest impact, and share best practices for cooperation with successful technology transfer case studies in the areas of water, energy, agriculture, information, and communication.  It sought to set the stage towards a collaboration framework with multi owners for critical technology development, management, maintenance, and services.  The meetings topics included: (a) ESCWA Technology Centre (ETC); (b) Thematic areas of priority for technology transfer in the sectors of water, energy, agriculture, and information and communication, and (c) Case-studies of technology transfer that convey successful practices and cooperation mechanisms.

Participants agreed on a number of recommendations related to the thematic areas of the meeting, and including:  Developing a mechanism to reach the beneficiaries of the ETC and a plan for sustained funding;  Promoting the impact of technology for water use efficiency, especially in agriculture;  Promoting legislations and awareness programmes for the efficient use and conservation of energy, especially in the transport sector;  Adopting and deploying ICTs and identifying ICT applications priorities in different areas;  Promoting the development of a regional information system for natural resources;  Developing appropriate technology selection and transfer models, and conducting related foresight studies for the region;  Partnering with local communities and collaborating with southern centres specialized in science, technology and innovation systems and related policy making for socio-economic development;  Disseminating lessons learnt from the experience of South Korea in the transition to a developed nation; and Developing technology transfer success criteria and indicators.

Enquiries for additional information should be addressed to:

Dr. Fouad Mrad (mrad@un.org), Executive Director a.i. of ESCWA Technology Centre, El Hassan Science City, PO Box 1438 Al-Jubaiha 11941, Amman, Jordan, T +962-6-5344701, F +962-6-5347399.

and

Ms. Zahr Bou-Ghanem (bou-ghanem@un.org), Research Assistant, ICT Division, UN-ESCWA, PO Box 11-8575, Beirut, Lebanon, T +961-1-978510, F +961-1-981510.