The Road to the SDGs

visibility at the forefront of the global development landscape and making it proactive rather than reactive to developments. u Building capacity in areas where IsDB lacks sufficient expertise, such as programming using value chains, crowdsourcing platforms, STI, mobilising resources creatively, etc. IsDB has resorted to forging partnerships with other institutions and seconding selected employees to accelerate the transfer of global expertise in the area of policies that control the operation of markets, thus ensuring that everyone shares the benefits of economic growth and maximizing the impact of interventions. u Developing regulations that govern recruitment and human resources in general. u Turning to the use of digital systems and eliminating the use of paper in all IsDB business and transactions. This is a quantum leap in the IsDB working environment. Business documents, correspondences, service requests and approvals are made 100% electronically, in a paperless fashion. The savings are estimated at US$ 14 million per year. QUESTION: The STI gap is widening by the day between developed and developing countries. Innovations and technology are determinants of competition among countries in different industries. Does IsDB have programmes or initiatives to help MCs build an STI ecosystem? ANSWER: Science, technology and innovation have replaced natural and financial resources as the main drivers of economic growth now and in the future. Currently, there are countries that do not have natural resources or have limited financial resources, but have been able to rank high on the list of country GDP and average per capita income. Innovation has contributed to reducing poverty and finding effective solutions for educational, health, environmental, economic and other issues. International data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics indicate that the United States, China and Japan ranked top in terms of spending on science and innovation, and that 44% of international companies have plans to increase spending on innovation and development. If we take the example of Uber and Careem, we find that they do not have any physical assets such [ 16 ]