Brief Description:
Frontier technologies carry a promise to fast track the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through supporting innovative, forwarding-looking policies and solutions. There are, however, numerous risks and complexities of digital technologies that come along with those opportunities, as well as policy and regulatory challenges. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought about unprecedented challenges to sustainable development, but have also accelerated digital government and digital transformation in many areas. At the same time, the pandemic has exposed harsh fragilities and digital divides especially for countries in special situations.
Objective:
The overall purpose of the project is to enhance the institutional capacity of selected countries in special situations, namely the: (i) least developed countries (LDCs); (ii) landlocked developing countries (LLDC); and (iii) small island developing States (SIDS). The specific focus of the project is to conceptualize, develop and implement policy experimentation and/or regulatory sandboxes on new technologies, as an innovative and catalytic approach to accelerate the progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.