The draft Uzbekistan’s Innovation Strategy until 2021 has been published for public consultation Thursday. As noted in the document, in 2015 Uzbekistan was ranked 122nd in the Global Innovation Index, in 2016 and 2017 Uzbekistan was not included in the ranking "due to the lack of data."
The draft set out “the systemic innovation problems”, in particular:
- low degree of interaction between sectors, trades and scientific institutions;
- lack of the required degree of coordination of innovation by ministries and departments, as well as local authorities;
- absence of medium- and long-term goals and innovation programs.
The main tasks of the strategy are:
- enhancing the quality and coverage of education at all levels, developing a system of lifelong education, ensuring the flexibility of education based on the needs of the economy;
- boosting the scientific potential and effectiveness of research and development (R&D), creating effective mechanisms for integrating science, education and business for large-scale implementation of the results of R&D;
- increasing public and private financing of innovation and R&D, implementing modern types of financing innovation;
- increasing the role and effectiveness of the government, introducing modern methods and tools of public administration;
- ensuring the protection of property rights, creation of competition and equal business conditions, development of public-private partnerships;
- creation of efficient infrastructure, increasing the share of renewable energy, providing affordable high-speed Internet.
One of the main goals of the strategy is to achieve Uzbekistan to be ranked in top 50 in the Global Innovation Index by 2030.
