Frontier technologies have the potential to re-shape the economy and boost productivity across all sectors and industries. They also offer great potential to harness social and environmental goals.

The challenge for policy makers is deciding where best to invest public resources in the development of capabilities in frontier technologies.
• Looking ahead, in which sectors, technologies or areas of R&D should my government invest?
• When and how much should my government invest in basic R&D?
• How should public funding for R&D be split across different economic, social or environmental goals?
• How best to engage and collaborate with the private sector in supporting R&D in frontier technologies?
• Which public investments in R&D spur and complement, rather than crowds out, private investment in R&D?
• What data and analytical models are available to inform the decision-making process?
• What other complementary investments and policy actions are necessary to achieve strong return on investments and positive spillovers?
• Given that many of the outcomes may take years to materialise, how can my government mobilise sufficient long-term public financial support, particularly for larger, bolder and riskier programmes?
• What is the role that regional and international collaboration can play in maximising the returns of public investment in R&D?

The workshop will provide insights on how to address these policy dilemmas through presentations from and panel discussions with international and regional experts; global private firms investing in frontier technologies; as well as policy makers, government officials and scientific advisors from countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The workshop is addressed to senior government officials from the Asia–Pacific region making decisions on investments in R&D in frontier technology. These include senior officials and representatives from the Ministries of Finance, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and Ministries of Industry, national research councils, public research institutions and innovation agencies.

This event is the first expert workshop of the Asia-Pacific research and training network on STI policy (ARTNET on STI Policy) and is jointly organised by ESCAP and the National STI Policy Office of Thailand.