Promoting Foresight and Innovation
'Visioning Sri Lanka #2030NOW'Sri Lanka's first National Summit on
Foresight and Innovation to be held in May:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of
National Policies and Economic Affairs, together with the Ministry of
Science, Technology and Research, Sarvodaya, LIRNEasia, the United
Nations Global Compact (UNGC), Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC)and the
Summit Partner, Ceylon Biscuits Limited launched the National Summit on
Foresight and Innovation for Sustainable Human Development at the UN
Compound, Colombo last week.
 The
Summit, the first of its kind to be held in Sri Lanka, is expected to
start a national dialogue on the importance of foresight and innovation
as a value addition to traditional development planning to achieve
sustainable human development and the 2030 development agenda. The
two-day Summit will held on May 24 and 25 at Waters Edge, Battaramulla.
UNDP Country Director, .Joern Soerensen said, "Foresight is an
exemplary tool to help propel development, vision alternative futures
and build resilient policies in Sri Lanka." He said, "As the development
arm of the United Nations, we are extremely proud to be able to connect
a diverse set of resource people internationally, and convene all key
players of the development sector in Sri Lanka."
The Summit will be graced by Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe and
will connect many international resource people including those from the
UN Pulse Lab - Jakarta, the UNDP Centre for Public Service Excellence -
Singapore, Mind Lab - Denmark, GIZ -Germany, Superflux - UK, UNDP Kolba
Lab - Armenia, UNDP MiLab - Moldova to name a few.
Foresight and Innovation are rapidly becoming tools that governments
and other non-traditional partners for development are incorporating
into their work.
Through these methodologies, they seek to create coherent policy
frameworks that will effectively utilize limited resources.
Therefore, understanding emerging trends and opportunities whilst
successfully evading inevitable challenges is key.
The Summit, will thus contribute to enhancing development practices
and policies that are visionary, and those that will achieve national
goals and visions for 2030.
The State Minister for National Policies and Economic Affairs,
Niroshan Perera said "Sri Lanka is at a crucial juncture; we must now
choose to look outwards and beyond the present context to create the
future we want.
Through this Summit we will develop and learn about foresight tools
from a national planning and policy point of view, which will prove
pivotal over the next 15 years as national and international contexts
grow more complex and challenging." Minister Perera also acknowledged
UNDP's role, "We are quite pleased and thankful to UNDP for taking the
lead and working closely with the Ministry to convene all relevant
stakeholders for this important Summit".
The Summit will introduce several foresight tools by looking at
nationally relevant environmental, social and economic themes.
Together with the private sector, a key component of the audience,
the Summit will aim at producing a set of recommendations that will be
implemented collectively following the event. General Secretary of
Sarvodaya, Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne;CEO of the CCC, Ms. Dhara Wijayatilake;
Sri Lanka Network Representative of the UNGC, Sutheash Balasubramaniam;
Project Director of the Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology
and Innovation, Prof. Ajith de Alwis; and Group Director - Head of
Marketing and Sales of Ceylon Biscuits Limited, . NandanaWickramage also
spoke at the event. |
