UNGA-78 | Transforming Innovation Systems and Restructuring Value Chains in Asia: The Way Forward

Science Summit around the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

ISC and its partners will organise the 9th edition of the Science Summit around the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) on 12-29 September 2023.

The role and contribution of science to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be the central theme of the Summit. The objective is to develop and launch science collaborations to demonstrate global science mechanisms and activities to support the attainment of the UN SDGs, Agenda 2030 and Local2030. The meeting will also prepare input for the United Nations Summit of the Future, which will take place during UNGA79 beginning on 12 September 2024.

CRIS-IS.ORG is joining hands with ISC, Guru Nanak Dev University -India, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia, and Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) to hold four panels:

1. Advancing Technologies, Employment Possibilities and Future Skills: Prospects for Latecomer Countries: Wednesday, September 13 | 8:00am - 9:30am EDT

2. Transforming Innovation Systems and Restructuring Value Chains in Asia: The Way Forward: Saturday, September 16 | 10:00am - 11:30am EDT

3. Innovation Systems and Global Value Chains: Balancing the two for Growth, Human Welfare and Environmental Sustainability: Friday, September 22 | 6:00am - 7:30am EDT

4. Innovation Policy for sustainability - Reflections from Australian agriculture: Saturday, September 23 | 5:00am - 7:00am EDT

View the UNGA78 webpage: https://sciencesummitunga.com/ssunga78/

VIEW THE UNGA WEBPAGE: https://sciencesummitunga.com/ssunga78/ 

Transforming Innovation Systems and Restructuring Value Chains in Asia: The Way Forward

DATE: 16 September 2023 (Saturday)

10 AM EDT & NY | 2 PM GMT | 3 PM UK | 4 PM South Africa | 7.30 PM India | 10 PM China | 12 am Canberra

Speakers: Prof. Nagesh Kumar, Prof. KJ Joseph, Prof. Sanika, Prof. Nirvikar Singh, Prof. Lakhwinder Singh

Chair: Prof. Mammo Muchie

Moderator: Dr Rajesh Gopalkrishan Nair

Convenors of the session: Dr. Swati Mehta, Mr Declan, Prof. Mammo Muchie, Dr Rajesh GK.

With 60 percent of the world population and 30 percent of the land, Asia’s share in global GDP has been increasing fast to contribute nearly 45 percent of the global GDP recently. Forecasters predicted that the share of Asia in global GDP will increase to more than 50 percent in the near future. Some of the Asian countries have been showing the signs of exorbitant growth since 1960s. Rapid industrialization happened in Four East Asian countries that tripled the real income per capita within a span of three decades. These countries had climbed the technological ladder while building and refining their indigenous learning capability and knowledge stock, with subsequently increasing their contribution in value chains. But these transformations are complex processes wherein numerous actors, organizations and institutions interplay for building innovation systems to generate high value added products and processes. With advances in ICT and transportation facilities, the production chains are increasingly getting fragmented into different regions, mainly to reap the production costs benefits and/or cater to large markets. Competitive production cost, availability of resources and investment friendly policies have attracted many multinational corporations and big conglomerates to establish production units in different latecomer countries in Asia. But the real challenge for these latecomer economies is to act upon the ‘window of opportunity’ emerged through entering the value chains; otherwise they can get struck in ‘low value added production processes’. 

Although transformations are complex processes, framing the necessary policies and adopting strategic means of accumulating knowledge can speed up the process. In this context, the panelists in the session will discuss the challenges for both the incumbents and the followers Asian countries in the post Covid-19 era of changing world economic order; wherein the world is found to be restructuring the value chains with re-shoring, friend-shoring and near-shoring bringing numerous opportunities and challenges for the latecomer countries.

SPEAKERS

Nagesh Kumar

Director, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID)

Prof Nagesh Kumar is Director and Chief Executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), a New Delhi-based public-funded, policy think-tank. Prior to taking up this role in May 2021, Prof Kumar served as Director at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), holding several senior management roles during 2009-21 including as Chief Economist, Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division and Social Development Division at the UNESCAP headquarters in Bangkok, and as Head of the South and South-West Asia Office located in New Delhi, that he also had the privilege of establishing. Prof Kumar also serves as the Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre (BU/GDPC), Boston, Mass. USA.

During 2002-09, Dr. Kumar served as the Director-General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a policy think-tank of the Government of India (Ministry of External Affairs). He has also served as an Economist at UNU/INTECH (now UNU/MERIT) in Maastricht, the Netherlands during 1993-98. Dr Kumar has served on the boards of the EXIM Bank of India, the International Centre for Trade & Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Geneva; the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), Kathmandu, and as a consultant to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Commonwealth Secretariat, Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), ILO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UN-DESA, UNIDO.

Dr. Kumar has researched extensively on different aspects of economic development, resulting in the publication of 18 books and over 120 peer-reviewed papers. He has contributed a popular column ‘Trading Ideas’ in The Economic Times, Business Standard, and Financial Express in different periods over 2002-11 along with occasional popular writings in The Hindu, Jakarta Post, Hindustan Times, among others. An economics PhD from the Delhi School of Economics, Dr Kumar is recipient of the Exim Bank's first International Trade Research Award in 1990, and GDN’s Research Medal awarded by the World Bank and the Japanese Government in Tokyo in 2000. More details of his work can be found here. Find his profile on Google Scholar. He tweets @nageshkum.

KJ Joseph

Director, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation

Prof K. J. Joseph currently the Director Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT). He is currently Secretory General of Globelics. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Innovation and Development, published by Taylor and Francis, Founding Editor in Chief of Kerala Economy published by GIFT,    President, Kerala Economic Association and till recently the President of Globelics.

Earlier positions that he held include Ministry of Commerce Chair Professor at Centre for Development Studies, Visiting Senior Fellow at RIS, New Delhi, Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University, IT Policy Consultant of UNESCAP for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and the Yunnan Province of China, Expert in Innovation studies at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, China, selected under the program of search for global experts. He has also been a consultant to UNCTAD.

Gold Medallist of the Calicut University for MA Economics, he earned M Phil and Ph D Degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University (Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum) and undertook post-doctoral research at Yale University as a Ford Foundation Fellow.

KJ’s areas of expertise include science technology and innovation for development with focus on information technology, industry studies especially electronics; FDI, trade, globalization and WTO, regional development with focus on Kerala economy and natural resource based development with focus on plantation agriculture. Of late he is also engaged in research and policy advise public finance, especially on GST fiscal federalism.

Apart from over 80 research papers and a number of policy-oriented reports, he has seven books, published by five leading international publishers, (Sage publications, Oxford University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge (T&F) and Edward Elgar) to his credit.

He has delivered invited lectures, keynote addresses and presented papers in over 80 seminars/conferences held in over 35 countries and over 150 seminars/workshops/conference in India.

KJ serves as the editorial board member of the following journals of repute: International Journal of Technological Learning,  Institutions and Economies;  African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development , Millennial Asia.

He has been a member of the following bodies: The Committee of Direction and Governing Body of CDS, Steering Committee of India-EU Cooperation in S&T, Review Committee of HSRC South Africa, Indo-Japan Committee of Social Sciences and Humanities, and different expert committees appointed by the Government of India and Government of Kerala, including the Co-Chairperson of the of task forces of 13th and 14th Five Year Plan, Kerala State Planning Board. He has authored three books and edited five books.

Sanika Sulochini Ramanayske

Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Dr. Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

She holds PhD from Seoul National University, South Korea

Email: sulochani00@kln.ac.lk / sulochani00@gmail.com

Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake is working as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social

Statistics in the University of Kelaniya. Before this appointment, she was a senior researcher at Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research Institute and a visiting lecturer at General Sir John Kottelawela Defence University, University of Colombo, and University of Vocational Technologies in Sri Lanka. Earlier, she was a Post-Doctoral researcher at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, affiliated with the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai (From 2016–2018), and a Post-Doctoral researcher at Seoul National University and Inha University, which was funded by the Social Science Korea (SSK) program in South Korea (from 2013–2016). She obtained her Ph.D. from Seoul National University and received the Brain Korea scholarship for her Ph.D. studies. Her recent publications have appeared in the International Journal of Finance & Economics, European Journal of Development Research, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Millennial Asia, Review of Applied Economics, South Asian Survey, South Asia Research Journal, and Sri Lanka Journal of Economic Research. She has also recently published a book in World Scientific Publisher – Singapore and some chapters in New Perspectives on Structural Change and Innovation Policy, System and Management by Cambridge University Press, UK. She received the Vice Chancellor’s Award 2020 — 1st place — Early Career Researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Few Senate Awards from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Her research interests are Sustain Growth & Economic Development, International Trade & Export Growth, Innovations & growth, SMEs, Middle Income Trap, Currency exchange rate, Women Empowerment & Gender Gap, Gender Inequality & Income Inequality, Remittances, Migration & Development, and Regional Corporations: Area studies – East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, Country Studies – Korea, China, Japan, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, South Africa, Cong, and Ethiopia.

Nirvikar Singh

University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

Distinguished Professor of Economics

​​​​Nirvikar Singh is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also co-directs the Center for Analytical Finance. He has been a member of the Advisory Group to the Finance Minister of India on G-20 matters; a consultant to the Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; and a member of an Expert Group of the Government of Punjab for revitalizing the state’s economy.

Lakhwinder Singh

Professor, Institute of Human Development

Lakhwinder Singh, Professor is Visiting Professor of Economics, Institute for Human Development (IHD), New Delhi. He is an Editor, Millennial Asia: An International Journal of Asian Studies, SAGE Publisher-SCOPUS and Clarivate Analytics: ESCI https://journals.sagepub.com/home/mla

He is a Former Professor and Head of Economics Department and Coordinator,

Centre for Development Economics and Innovation Studies (CDEIS) at Punjabi University, Patiala, India. He has published more than 70 research papers in reputed journals and10 books. His Recent book Agriculture Innovation Systems in Asia: Towards Inclusive Rural Development, Routledge.

Mammo MuchieTshwane University of Technology: DSI-NRF SARChI Chair Rated Research Professor in Innovation Studies, Pretoria, South Africa

Mammo Muchie received his primary and secondary education at St. John Elementary School and Fassildes High School [Gondar] respectively. Mammo topped the World Youth Forum Competition and was invited to USA in 1968 for pursuing high school education. Subsequently, he studied at DWhite Morrow High School and in Engle Wood, New Jersey. He studied physics and mathematics and got exposed to all liberal courses in the Ivy League universities. He completed a diploma program at the MENDELEV Institute of Measurement Science, Russia in Measurement Science before pursuing higher studies at Columbia University, New York and Sussex University, England where he was mentored by stalwarts such as Prof. Coleman (Dean of science at Columbia), Prof. Murray (IDS Sussex), Prof. Gordon White and Prof. Chris Freeman (SPRU, Sussex)..Professor Mammo Muchie did his undergraduate degree in Columbia University, New York, USA and his postgraduate MPhil and DPhil in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Development (STI&D) from the University of Sussex, UK. He is currently a DST-NRF research chair in Innovation Studies at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Tshwane University of Technology as a rated research Professor. He is a fellow of the South African Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences and the African Science Institute. He is also currently adjunct Professor at Bahir Dar, Harmaya, and University of Gondar, Ethiopia. He is senior research associate fellow at the TMD Centre of Oxford University and the Africa Centre of Excellence in Data Science at the University of Rwanda. He has taught at the University of Economics in Prague as visiting professor, Jawarahal Nehru University in India, Tonji and Shanghai University in China; Honorary Professor Jiaxing University in China, Assistant Professor Amsterdam University, Visiting Professor Carleton College in the USA; Principal Lecturer Middlesex University, Professor Aalborg University; Part–time Lecturer, Cambridge University; Honorary Professor UNISA. Professor Mammo held various positions globally, including the Director of the Research Programme on Civil Society and African Integration at the then University of KwaZulu-Natal; board member at the North Western University, Chengdu, China. He is currently the chairman of the advisory board of African Talent hub of the Community Interest Company (registration no.10461990) to raise funds for making Africa the talent, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and knowledge hub of the world. He has been appointed as special distinguished advisor to the Africa Union's Student Council and a mentor for the African Entrepreneurship award. He has initiated the African Unity for Renaissance and Knowledge Exchange. He is a founding scientific advisor to the African Solar network, founding chairman of the Network of Ethiopian scholars. He has led the SIDA, Sweden funded research on engineering design and on transformative innovation for African integrated development and education on public media to speed up the creation of innovative and renascent Africa. He is also a co-founding member of the Nano Technology Institute in TUT leading the innovation side of the research. He is the founder and Chief Editor of the African Journal on Science, Technology, Innovation and Development that has been running since 2009.He has been appointed as a scientific and academic advisor to the local e-Governance research that involved ten African countries on ICT4D. He had been appointed as a consultant on UNESCO’s higher education, Research and Knowledge forum. He has served as a postdoctoral mentor in the NRF national postdoctoral forum. Since 1985, he has produced over 450 publications, including books, chapters in books, and articles in internationally accredited journals and entries in institutional publications. 

Rajesh GK

Organizing Secretary of Consortium for Research on Innovation Studies (CRIS)

Dr Rajesh Gopalkrishnan Nair is the Organizing Secretary of Consortium for Research on Innovation Studies (CRIS) and Director of Association for South -South Cooperation in Innovation Systems Transformation (ASSIST Ltd.) UK.

Swati Mehta

Guru Nanak Dev University, India

India

Swati Mehta (PhD) teaches at Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. She is Associate Editor, African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Rutledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

She was Visiting Researcher, Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University, Seoul, S. Korea with the award of International Scholar Exchange Fellowship (ISEF) of Korea/Chey Foundation for Advanced Study during March-August’ 2019.

Her area of research includes Economics of Innovation, Innovation Systems Approach, Global Value Chains, Development Economics, and Manufacturing Industries in developing countries. She is a Member of ‘The Global Network of Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (Globelics). She is a founding member of earlier career Innovation Researchers, CRIS, https://www.cris-is.org.

She has published articles in journals like Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, Seoul Journal of Economics, International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development. Her latest published book is: Innovation Systems, Economic Development and Public Policy: Sustainable Options from Emerging Economies by Roultedge India and her upcoming book is Challenges to Punjab Economy: A Regional Perspective from India,

December 8, 2023 by Routledge India.

She is a referee to the journals of repute including Economic Modeling, Millennial Asia, Innovation and Development, Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development.