Transitions to New Technologies Program
Technology is central to human development and achieving a sustainable future. The Transitions to New Technologies Program focuses on the core drivers of technological change and on policies for the development and diffusion of fundamentally new technological systems particularly in the areas that are key for global sustainability. International research and collaborative networks, in-house databases, and novel modeling approaches have been developed, allowing the program to address technological change from an interdisciplinary, international perspective, and to inform policy choices for achieving a sustainable future from a systemic technological innovation perspective.
Objectives
- Develop and maintain databases to assist analysis of technological trends, environmental impacts, and to monitor innovation progress. Develop operational concepts and technology development needs to address critical land-energy-water interactions and potential conflicts using a combined nexus and systems approach to technological innovation.
- Extend systems analysis to technologies identified as critical to resolve conflicts between the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via the project The World in 2050, and demonstrate which technology and policy combinations can achieve viable synergies across the all 17 SDGs by 2020.
- Identify key gaps in research and development efforts, niche market creation, and diffusion investments to provide timely advice regarding possible development roadmaps to multilateral and national funding and technology agencies.
- Plan a portfolio of outreach activities based on the program’s research which will include policy briefs and stakeholder consultations with policymakers, civil society, private sector, and science and engineering communities.
