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Industrial Science and Technology Working Group

  

The Industrial Science and Technology Working Group's (ISTWG) objective is to fulfill the APEC vision for the 21st century: to be a dynamic and prosperous region built on the development and application of industrial science and technology that improves the quality of life, while safeguarding the natural environment and achieving sustainable development.

The policy directions of ISTWG are set by APEC Economic Leaders, and are guided by APEC Ministers responsible for science and technology.

The Terms of Reference and Work Plan 2008 sets out ISTWG's goals. They are:
  • enhanced economic growth, trade and investment opportunities in harmony with sustainable development, through policies, innovative R&D and technologies, and knowledge sharing;
  • a better quality of life and a cleaner environment;
  • a safe and secure society, emphasizing the importance of measures for infectious diseases and natural disasters;
  • human resource capacity building;
  • enhanced international science and technology networks;
  • an improved level of connection between research and innovation, involving and encouraging the potential of SMEs; and
  • strengthened technological cooperation and achievement of best practices in strategic planning for IST projects and programs.
Originally the ISTWG was known as the Working Group on Expansion of Investment and Technology Transfer, which was initiated at the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Singapore in 1990.

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Achievements

APEC Biotechnology Conference
The APEC Biotechnology Conference: Bio-connection Construction was held in Taipei on July 21, 2008. This Conference successfully gathered biotech professionals to discuss current developments on biomedical translational research and plans for the building of a collaborative network within APEC. It was also agreed that certain regionally significant diseases are not addressed sufficiently and that APEC members will now initiate a project to tackle this issue.

Industrial Waste Management
A four-day training course on The Management and Technology of Industrial Waste Resources was held in Chinese Taipei, on 22-25 July 2008. Some 150 trainees attended the course. Participants learned how to improve their managerial and technological skills related to resource recovery from selected industrial wastes. The lectures focused on resource recovery from copper sludge, waste noble metal, waste solvent and waste acids. Participants also studied the operation and maintenance of waste treatment and recovery facilities, adequate sampling and testing procedures to obtain meaningful results, prospective marketing of the regenerated products and follow-up management.

APEC Climate Center
The 2008 Symposium on the APEC Climate Center for Climate Information Services to Society was held on 19-21 August 2008 in, Lima, Peru. The symposium provided a forum for: facilitating regional cooperation in developing climate prediction science and technology; designing effective ways to share advanced climate information for the benefit of all APEC members; sharing the latest knowledge and expertise on climate prediction focused on seasonal range; and developing future plans for collaboration towards regional adaptation to climate change. The 2008 Symposium specifically addressed regional climate prediction with respect to South America, the application of seasonal prediction and frontline technologies in seasonal climate prediction.

35th Meeting of the ISTWG
The 35th ISTWG meeting was held in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 8-9 September, 2008. Seven members (China, Japan, Russia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, USA and Viet Nam) reported on and shared recent developments in science, technology and innovation policy in their own economies.

APEC Symposium on Research and Innovation
The APEC Symposium on Research and Innovation: Policy Mechanisms for Science and Technology Planning and Building Public/Private Partnerships was hosted by Viet Nam on 10-11 September 2008. The participants were mostly senior government officials and policy-makers directly responsible for innovation strategy in their economies. The aim of the symposium was to enhance the ability of economies to identify science and technology priorities, to apply existing methods for regular assessment of those priorities and to create and sustain productive partnerships between government, academia and industry.

Material traceability and technical barriers to trade
The APEC Seminar on Traceability in Materials Testing to Reduce Technical Barriers to Trade was held in Daejeon, Korea, on 29-30 September 2008. The speakers covered measurement challenges and the traceability of property values, and discussion followed on which materials and property values to focus on from the point of view of reducing technical barriers to trade. As a result of the seminar, the APEC Network on Materials Evaluation Technology (ANMET), whose creation was sponsored by APEC several years ago, may be enhanced by increasing the participation of member economies through national metrology institutes and materials research institutes.

Nanoscale Analytical and Measurement Methods
A forum on the Technological Cooperative Framework on Nanoscale Analytical and Measurement Methods was held in Chinese Taipei, on 1-3 October 2008. The forum's objectives were:
  • to get a clear picture of measurement needs and a roadmap of nanoproducts
  • to raise suggestions for potential regulation relating to the protection of consumers, the general public and the environment from the impacts of nanomaterials throughout their lifecycle
  • to launch a robust measurement study on the impacts of nanoproducts.


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Current Activities

Natural Hazard Mitigation
A training course on "Human Capacity Building for Natural Hazard Mitigation in Cities & Coastal Regions" will be held in Japan on 7-25 November 2008. The objective of the training course is technology transfer on natural hazard mitigation and risk governance in cities and coastal regions. These densely populated regions often experience earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, and environmental impacts. The trainees will be technical experts and officers with responsibility for planning and practicing hazard reduction and risk management in APEC member countries, especially, developing countries. The objective is to help them develop guidelines on natural hazard mitigation to enhance human security and ensure sustainable development in the APEC region.

APEC Clean Development
The APEC Clean Development Conference - The Current Applications and Future Promotion of Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development is scheduled to be held in Hsinchu, Chinese Taipei on 15 December 2008. This purpose of the conference is to build a network of green chemistry in the APEC region to promote sustainable development. It is hoped that partnerships for co-operation within APEC will be built during the technical exchange, and that this in turn will benefit the introduction of green technology into industrial production in APEC members.

Research & Development (R&D) Management Training
The 2009 APEC R&D Management Training (ART) Program will be held in Busan, Korea, from 23-27 February. Since 2006, the ART Program has contributed to the ISTWG's work program by focusing on strengthening technological cooperation and encouraging best practice in strategic planning.

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Industrial Science and Technology Working Group (ISTWG) - Key Contacts
Lead Shepherd
Dr. Lee Myung-Jin
Director
International S&T Policy Research Group
Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)
Specialty Construction Center 20.26.27F
Shindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu,
Seoul 156-714,
Republic of Korea
Tel: 82-2-3284-1860
Fax: 82-2-849-8015
E-mail: leemyjin@stepi.re.kr


APEC Secretariat
Mr Park Yung Suh
Director (Program)
E-mail: pys@apec.org
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