ISTIC

The International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) under the auspices of UNESCO is the only Category 2 Centre under the Natural Sciences sector and thematically specialized in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy for the South-South countries. Throughout its decade-plus existence, the Centre has focused on its seven priority agendas: STI Policy; Women in STI; Inquiry-based Science Education (IBSE) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education; Maintenance of Infrastructure; Technopreneurship; Accreditation and Mobility of Engineers and Technicians; and Digital Technology. Since its establishment, ISTIC has successfully organized 101 programmes that covered eight Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 4,298 participants (of which 1,566 were Malaysians) from 105 countries (including 99 members of G77 countries) and collaborated with more than 150 strategic partners.

The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of COVID-19. For ISTIC, it is the time to face the challenges and adapt to a ‘new normal’. It took stock of its progress to date, continued working to consolidate existing partnerships and scientific initiatives and explored new opportunities.

ISTIC continued organizing key programmes under its priority agenda (such as Technopreneurship) together with the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) and the Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre). ISTIC organized training programmes on STI Policy with the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), and on Big Data with the International Knowledge

Centre for Engineering Science and Technology under the auspices of UNESCO (IKCEST). ISTIC embarked on a tripartite collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the National STEM Centre to bring a Computer Science Education training programme to teachers in Malaysia. ISTIC partnered with the Office for Climate Education (OCE) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation–Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM) and Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) to conduct an online training on Climate Change Education. ISTIC had also embarked on a new programme on Open Science, which will see an inter-sectoral collaboration among established science stakeholder networks and provides pathways to the achievement of SDGs.

While the challenges of the pandemic are likely to remain for some time, ISTIC is confident that it will continue to create value for its stakeholders and make a positive contribution through a focused approach for many years to come.