In 1987, the General Conference of UNESCO approved the launch of the Organization's first world reports, the World Communication Report, which first appeared two years later. In 1989, the General Conference approved the launch of the World Education Report, which appeared in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2000.[1]
The launch of these two reports created a momentum to generalize the world reports to all of UNESCO's fields of competence. The World Science Report (as the UNESCO Science Report was originally known) was the next title to appear, in 1993.[2] The first World Information Report followed in 1997 then the World Social Science Report in 1999, as well as two World Culture Reports in 1998 and 2000. Two existing reports were merged to produce the World Communication and Information Report 1999−2000.
The World Science Report was first officially evoked in 1992 in the Preliminary Proposals by the Director-General concerning the Programme and Budget for 1994-1995. This document was submitted to UNESCO's Executive Board, which has 58 rotating member states and meets twice a year to monitor the implementation of UNESCO's programme. The document states that, 'on the basis of the lessons drawn from drafting and publishing the first UNESCO World Science Report, measures will be taken to refine and improve this undertaking'.[3]
The World Science Report was initially an output of UNESCO's Science, Technology and Society programme.[3] The World Science Report replaced the UNESCO journal Impact of Science on Society, which dated from the 1950s. Jacques Richardson, Head of UNESCO's Science and Society Section from 1972 to 1985 and former editor of Impact of Science on Society, observed in Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO (2006) that 'the publication of Impact continued until the early 1990s, when it was converted into the biennial World Science Report'. The editor of the first three World Science Reports (1993, 1996 and 1998) was Howard Moore, who had succeeded Jacques Richardson as editor of Impact of Science on Society. The first edition of the report reflects this influence, since the World Science Report 1993 included a section popularizing contemporary issues in basic sciences.[4]
In 2000, the production of world reports was suspended pending the outcome of an external evaluation of UNESCO's policy with regard to world reports. The evaluation recommended to the Executive Board of UNESCO that, 'in the future, there should be one single UNESCO world report to be published every two years on a specific issue to be chosen by the organs [sic] of the Organization in an interactive way and presented to the General Conference for further debate, while the existing world reports should continue as analytical reports on the state of the art in education, the sciences, culture, and communication and information in four- to six-year intervals.'[5]
Several of the existing reports were consequently revived, including the World Science Report, World Social Science Report (in 2010) and the World Education Report. The latter was renamed the Education for All Global Monitoring Report.
In order to avoid confusion with UNESCO's new series of thematic world reports, UNESCO's analytical report on the state of the global support system for science was renamed the UNESCO Science Report. Susan Schneegans took over as editor of the series in 2003.[6]
In line with the recommendations of the external evaluation of UNESCO's policy with regard to world reports, the periodicity of the UNESCO Science Report was changed to five years and the series adopted a stronger focus on monitoring global trends and developments in science and technology policy. The five-year interval between reports has proved beneficial, since 'a quinquennial report has the advantage of being able to focus on longer-term trends, rather than becoming entrenched in descriptions of short-term annual fluctuations which, with respect to policy and science and technology indicators, rarely add much value'.[6][7]
Three reports in the series have appeared since the evaluation, in 2005, 2010 and 2015. The next report is due for release in November 2020. The focus in the 2015 edition, in particular, has been on demonstrating that science, technology and innovation policy and governance do not evolve in a vacuum but, rather, are influenced by political, socio-economic and environmental factors and, in turn, influence these.
Geographical coverage
Each edition has added geographic detail. The 2021 edition of the UNESCO Science Report provides data for 193 countries, with contributions from more than 70 authors from 52 countries. Published in June 2021, the seventh report in the series arrives at a crucial juncture, as countries are now one-third of the way to the 2030 deadline for achieving their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It reveals that countries of all income levels share a common agenda for transitioning to digital and 'green' economies.
Themes covered in 2021 include our relationship with advanced technologies and the resources and energy they require, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the effect of Brexit on science and technology and the status of women in science and Industry 4.0. For the first time, an analysis of scientific output breaks down the broad field of cross-cutting strategic technologies into its sub-fields, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, energy and nanotechnology. The Covid-19 pandemic has energized knowledge production systems. This dynamic builds on the trend towards greater international scientific collaboration, which bodes well for tackling this and other global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, sustainability science is not yet mainstream in academic publishing, according to the report's assessment of output on 56 topics of priority for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals, even though countries are investing more than before in green technologies.
The 2021 edition concludes that countries will need to invest more in research and innovation, if they are to succeed in their dual digital and green transition. More than 30 countries have already raised their research spending since 2014, in line with their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite this progress, eight out of ten countries still devote less than 1% of GDP to research, perpetuating their dependence on foreign technologies.
The 2015 edition of the UNESCO Science Report provided data on 189 countries and profiles of varying length of 140 countries. It contained three global chapters, 13 regional chapters and 11 chapters on individual countries, namely on: Brazil, Canada, China, India, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and United States of America.
The UNESCO Science Report has evolved over the years, and the report's geographical coverage has expanded. The 2015 edition of the UNESCO Science Report observed that, 'although most research and development is taking place in high-income countries, innovation is pervasive and is occurring in countries across the full spectrum of income levels'.[8]
All the reports in the series are open access. They may be downloaded and purchased in various languages.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. A non-governmental, not-for-profit organization, IFLA was founded in Scotland in 1927 with headquarters at the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague. IFLA sponsors the annual IFLA World Library and Information Congress, promoting access to information, ideas, and works of imagination for social, educational, cultural, democratic, and economic empowerment. IFLA also produces several publications, including IFLA Journal.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees of the United Nations General Assembly. UN DESA assists countries around the world in agenda-setting and decision-making with the goal of meeting their economic, social and environmental challenges. It supports international cooperation to promote sustainable development for all, having as a foundation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015. In providing a broad range of analytical products, policy advice, and technical assistance, UN DESA effectively translates global commitments in the economic, social and environmental spheres into national policies and actions and continues to play a key role in monitoring progress towards internationally agreed-upon development goals. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.
Science and technology in Morocco has significantly developed in recent years. The Moroccan government has been implementing reforms to encourage scientific research in the Kingdom. While research has yet to acquire the status of a national priority in Morocco, the country does have major assets that could transform its R&D sector into a key vehicle for development. The industry remains dominated by the public sector, with the universities employing 58% of researchers. Morocco's own evaluation of its national research system – carried out in 2003 – revealed that the country has a good supply of well trained high quality human resources and that some laboratories are of very high quality. However, the greatest gap at that point of time lied in the link between research and innovation. The educational qualifications of Moroccan researchers have increased significantly since the early 1990s. The University of Al-Karaouine is considered the oldest continuously operating academic degree-granting university in the world.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.
In 2011, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted a Policy on Science and Technology (ECOPOST).
Science and technology in Botswana examines recent trends and developments in science, technology and innovation policy in this country. The Republic of Botswana was one of the first countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to adopt a science and technology policy in 1998. This was later updated in 2011.
This article examines trends and developments in science and technology in Malawi.
This article examines trends and developments in science and technology in Zimbabwe since 2009.
Science and technology in Tanzania describes developments and trends in higher education and science, technology and innovation policy and governance in the United Republic of Tanzania since the turn of the century.
Science and technology in Armenia describes trends and developments in science, technology and innovation policy and governance in Armenia.
Science and technology in Kazakhstan – government policies to develop science, technology and innovation in Kazakhstan.
Science and technology in Uganda examines government efforts to develop a national innovation system and the impact of these policies.
Science and technology in Cape Verde examines government policies designed to foster a national innovation system and the impact of these policies.
Science and technology in Burkina Faso summarises the changes and trends that have occurred in this area in Burkina Faso from 2010 and places them in the viewpoint of the subregion.
In Ivory Coast, a country in West Africa, scientific output has been relatively modest. Scientists in Ivory Coast produced only 10 scholarly articles per million inhabitants in international journals in 2014, compared to a continental average of 20 per million. Between 2008 and 2014, scientists published mostly in biological sciences, followed by medical sciences, geosciences, agriculture and chemistry. The country also has few international collaborations, compared to the rest of the continent: whereas more than eight out of ten articles had a foreign co-author in most countries in 2014, the rate in Ivory Coast was 73%.
This article summarizes the development of science and technology in Cambodia from a policy perspective.
Reshaping Cultural Policies is a report series published by UNESCO which monitors the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). The 2005 UNESCO Convention encourages its 146 parties to introduce policies for culture within a global context and commitment to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions. The second and most recent report (2018) subtitled “Advancing Creativity for Development” follows the first report (2015) with the subtitle “A Decade Promoting the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for Development”.
Sustainable Development Goal 17 is about "partnerships for the goals." One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development". SDG 17 refers to the need for the nonhegemonic and fair cross sector and cross country collaborations in pursuit of all the goals by the year 2030. It is a call for countries to align policies.
Sustainable Development Goal 4 is about quality education and is among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in September 2015. The full title of SDG 4 is "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all".
↑ Korku Ayenyo, Elvis; etal. Tracking trends in innovation and mobility. In: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030. UNESCO Publishing. p.82.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
