The guiding principle of the Global Solutions Summit is Enhancing Technology Deployment for Achieving the SDGs in Emerging Markets.
Why is deployment so important? Harnessing STI for the SDGs starts with the work of scientists and engineers who develop high-performance, low-cost technological solutions for the SDGs. But this is only the first step on the long road from the lab to the SDG. The indispensable next step entails transforming these scientific discoveries into affordable products and services and getting them into the hands of the hundreds of millions of people in tens of thousands of urban and rural communities in dozens of countries.
This is the so-called deployment challenge which is the domain of business models, supply chains, community organizing, product marketing, and finance. It is the purview of entrepreneurs, community leaders, equipment vendors, logistics experts, payment mechanisms, finance for social enterprises and consumers, government officials, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, SMEs, large corporations, and local universities who comprise the deployment ecosystem. Unless we learn how to tackle the deployment challenge, even the most promising and disruptive development solutions will end up sitting idly on the shelves.
The first two Global Solution Summits (GSS 2014 which convened at the US State Department in April 2014 and GSS 2016 which convened at the Clinton Presidential Library in December 2016) focused on the challenges inherent in mobilizing capital and designing financial conduits to support large scale technology deployment. The theme of the next two Summits (GSS 2018 and GSS 2019) which convened at UN headquarters in New York City were “From Lab to the Last Mile: Technology Deployment Business Models for the SDGs” and “Inclusive Disruptive Innovation: The Imperative of Technology Deployment.” In 2021, the Nobel Foundation invited the GSS to host a panel entitled "From Results in the Lab to Results on the Ground" in connection with the 2021 Nobel Prize Summit, "Our Planet Our Future.
Each of these Summits showcased specific policies and programs that scientists, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, national and local governments, community participants, social enterprises, impact investors, equipment vendors, local SMEs, universities, foundations, and NGOs can support to create a stronger and more vibrant local deployment ecosystem – one that facilitates the deployment of inclusive disruptive innovations on a scale commensurate with the scope of the SDG challenge.
This is the so-called deployment challenge which is the domain of business models, supply chains, community organizing, product marketing, and finance. It is the purview of entrepreneurs, community leaders, equipment vendors, logistics experts, payment mechanisms, finance for social enterprises and consumers, government officials, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, SMEs, large corporations, and local universities who comprise the deployment ecosystem. Unless we learn how to tackle the deployment challenge, even the most promising and disruptive development solutions will end up sitting idly on the shelves.
The first two Global Solution Summits (GSS 2014 which convened at the US State Department in April 2014 and GSS 2016 which convened at the Clinton Presidential Library in December 2016) focused on the challenges inherent in mobilizing capital and designing financial conduits to support large scale technology deployment. The theme of the next two Summits (GSS 2018 and GSS 2019) which convened at UN headquarters in New York City were “From Lab to the Last Mile: Technology Deployment Business Models for the SDGs” and “Inclusive Disruptive Innovation: The Imperative of Technology Deployment.” In 2021, the Nobel Foundation invited the GSS to host a panel entitled "From Results in the Lab to Results on the Ground" in connection with the 2021 Nobel Prize Summit, "Our Planet Our Future.
Each of these Summits showcased specific policies and programs that scientists, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, national and local governments, community participants, social enterprises, impact investors, equipment vendors, local SMEs, universities, foundations, and NGOs can support to create a stronger and more vibrant local deployment ecosystem – one that facilitates the deployment of inclusive disruptive innovations on a scale commensurate with the scope of the SDG challenge.
about the founder
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Alfred Watkins is Founder and CEO of the Global Solutions Summit and a member of the Governing Council of the UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries. Prior to these assignments, he worked for more than 23 years at the World Bank.
A complete biography is available here. |