UN's Istanbul event focuses on technology, governance

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Innovation Days have started on Nov. 27 to gather technology experts, academics and politicians to discuss global trends and innovative approaches impacting governance mechanisms.     

Hosted by the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP), the three-day event kicked off under the theme of Next Generation Governments.     

The participants are discussing several topics such as technology and governance, technology’s effects on the economy, future challenges and innovation experiments.     

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, UNDP’s assistant administrator, said: “Today, science and technology increasingly intersect with governance and politics.”      

“The challenge is to ensure we are innovating not simply for the sake of innovation, but to improve the lives and livelihoods of the poorest, the most vulnerable, marginalized, hardest to reach people living in the face of complex problems which have challenged communities for generations,” she said.     

She noted that the event was hosting over 250 people including strategic funders, governments, start-ups, think tanks, civil society, and international organizations.     

Innovation is not an end-point, it “can also be a much-needed expression of our humanity,” Egger added.

Faruk Kaymakçı, Turkish deputy minister of foreign affairs and director for the country’s EU affairs, said that technology has a unique role to transform economies.     

He added that new technologies provide new solutions for economic problems.     

Kaymakçı recalled the UN Technology Bank dedicated to least developed countries being established in Turkey, and underlined that Turkey is becoming the regional hub for technology.