Press Briefing
Monday, 15 May, 2:30 p.m. EDT, UN Headquarters
The Second Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) will be organized at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 15 to 16 May. Subsequently, the President of UN General Assembly will convene a SDG Action Event on Innovation on 17 May on the margins of the STI Forum and the New York Tech week.
On the opening day of the series of the events, co-Chairs of the Forum will brief the media on the meeting and its expected outcomes.
WHO:
• H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations, co-chair of the STI Forum
• Dr. Vaughan Turekian, Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State, co-chair of the STI Forum
• Ms. Mary Snapp, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Philanthropy in Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs Department
WHAT: Press Briefing on the Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs
WHEN: Monday 15 May 2017, 2:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE: S-237, UN Headquarters, New York or live through http://webtv.un.org
For UN Media Accreditation, please visit: https://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/
EVENT INFORMATION
Second Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (15-16 May)
• The two-day Forum aims to help build new networks that can foster scientific cooperation, innovation, and the development of new technologies that can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will bring innovators, policy makers, academia and the private sector from across the world together to explore new partnership possibilities to scale up innovation for the SDGs. The 2017 Forum will have the theme ‘Science, Technology and Innovation for a Changing World’ and will focus on SDGs: 1 on no poverty; 2 on zero hunger; 3 on health and well-being; 5 on gender equality; 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure; and 14 on life below water.
Information on the Forum, its programme and side events can be found at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/TFM/STIForum2017#2017sti
Science, Technology and Innovation Exhibition Hub (15-16 May)
• The STI Forum will also feature the Exhibition Hub, which will showcase 12 Innovations collected through a global call for innovation that provide practical examples of how concrete progress towards SDGs can be achieved through Science, Technology and Innovation. The exhibition hub will be accessible from Monday, 15 May 2017 – Tuesday, 16 May 2017: 8:00am to 6:45pm, in the Visitor Entrance, General Assembly Lobby, UN Headquarters.
SDG Action Event on Innovation (17 May)
• Building on the STI Forum, the President of the General Assembly will convene a High-Level Event on Innovation and Connectivity on Wednesday, 17 May. This event will provide leading innovators, thought-leaders, and technology companies an opportunity to engage with Member States and the UN system on how emerging technologies can be used to best effect and to ensure successful implementation of the SDGs.
Information on the programme and the list of speakers can be found at: https://www.un.org/pga/71/event-latest/high-level-event-on-innovation/
Available for Interviews on the Forum
• H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau, Co-Chair of STI Forum (Kenya)
• Dr. Vaughan Turekian, Co-Chair of STI Forum (US)
Additional interviewees (innovators)
• ‘Missing Maps‘ by Ms. Rebecca Firth
• ‘Babajob in India‘ by Mr. John Gibbons
• ‘Farmer Query System in Bangladesh‘ by Mr. Mridul Chowdhury
• ‘doctHERs in Pakistan‘ by Mr. Asher Hasan
• ‘Virtual Water Prospecting Programme in India‘ by Mr. Akash Bhavar
• ‘Ingnitia in West Africa‘ by Ms. Lizzie Merrill
• ‘Virtual Farmers Market in Zambia‘ by Ms. Ahnna Gudmunds
• ‘OMOMI in Nigeria‘ by Mr. Emmanuel Owobu
• ‘Mobilized Construction in Africa‘ by Mr. Kevin Lee
• ‘Paper Airplanes‘ by Ms. Bailey Ulbricht
• ‘JokkoSante in Senegal‘ by Mr. Adama Kane
• ‘CodePhil in the Philippines‘ by Ms. Jiwon Park and Ms. Amanda Wu
Media contacts for the STI Forum, the Exhibition Hub and interviews:
UN Department of Public Information
Kensuke Matsueda, T: +1 (917) 367-5414 | E: matsueda@un.org
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Matthias Klettermayer, T: +1 (212) 963-8306 | E: klettermayer@un.org
Media contact for SDG Action Event on Innovation:
UN Office of the President of General Assembly
Dan Thomas, T: +1 (212) 963-6274 | E: daniel.thomas@un.org