Botswana Science, Technology, and Innovation Foresight

This report was prepared as part of the Botswana Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy review process and should be read in conjunction with the Botswana STI Policy Review. It documents the STI Foresight exercise designed and undertaken by UNCTAD in 2022 to explore the future role of science, technology and innovation and STI policy in Botswana and to stimulate a process aimed at creating a consensus on the future priorities for national investments in R&D, technology and innovation. It responds to a key finding of UNCTAD's Botswana STI Policy Review that the lack of clearly defined national priorities contributes to fragmentation in the national system of innovation in Botswana and undermines its innovation performance and capacity for technology upgrading. These in turn constrain the ability of Botswana to use STI for sustainable development and reach the sustainable development goals. The STI foresight exercise aimed to provide a future dimension to strategic planning for STI in the country. It sought to involve the STI community of policymakers and practitioners in Botswana in a discussion about what the STI future could be for Botswana and what a preferred STI future is for the country. The exercise and the report are based on an understanding that foresight can help to shape the future of Botswana by looking forward into the future to see what could be possible through selective policy interventions undertaken in the present starting from today.