Erol K. Yayboke – författare

Innovation and technology are increasingly at the heart of economic growth around the world and will be crucial tools for addressing emerging issues such as global urbanization and growing demand for food, energy, and water. In this report, CSIS and RTI International assess the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries as they pursue innovation and technology-driven economic growth. The report includes analysis of three different subtopics—education and human capital development, translational research and development and commercialization, and the innovation policy environment—as well as case studies from Kenya, Malaysia, and India. From this research collaboration, CSIS and RTI International hope to create a platform for engaging a broad set of actors to support the creation of knowledge-based economies and innovation-led economic growth.

Before launching its second round of global goals—the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the United Nations convened a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. As part of its final report, the Panel called for a “data revolution” and recommended the formation of an independent body to lead the charge. In this report, CSIS and JICA-RI analyze the challenges and opportunities that exist in the pursuit of the data revolution. The report also considers two developing-country cases—Laos and Myanmar—in the broader context of what will be needed to enable “leapfrog” data technologies to take hold and ultimately drive the data revolution without following the linear progression of development laid out by countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Though not without its bumps and turns, the road to the data revolution is paved with promise and possibility.

This report from the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development looks at the domestic resource mobilization (DRM) reforms in developing countries through a political economy lens. As countries mobilize more resources to fund their governments and services, they can think more strategically about transitioning from a reliance on foreign aid to more mutually beneficial relationships with foreign countries. There are structural challenges to mobilizing domestic resources that long have been the focus of DRM efforts; however, addressing the political economy and structural challenges will be critical in the face of increased need and plateauing levels of foreign aid. It is critical that development approaches create the foundational capabilities and systems necessary to capitalize on political windows of opportunity.

As policymakers confront the ongoing challenge of radicalization and violent extremism, it is important that stakeholders and counterterrorism strategists recognize the critical role for development and other non-kinetic approaches to counter violent extremism. To that end, this new anthology takes a multidimensional role mapping out the role of soft power institutions in enabling lasting peace, prosperity, and global security.