Project

Regulation for innovation supporting Sustainable Development Goals

North of Sahara
South of Sahara
Project ID
109930
Total Funding
CAD 1,984,900.00
Project Status
Active
Duration
39 months

Programs and partnerships

Program(s)
Global Health
Sustainable Inclusive Economies

Lead institution(s)

South Africa
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Summary

Global disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines have laid bare inequities and shortcomings in national and international regulatory systems, including intellectual property laws and policies.Read more

Global disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines have laid bare inequities and shortcomings in national and international regulatory systems, including intellectual property laws and policies. These regulatory misalignments have significant negative implications for health in lower-income countries, and it is widely expected that these shortcomings may impact other innovations as well, thus hindering progress against Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This project aims to help address inequities in global regulatory systems that inhibit innovations that are relevant for the achievement of SDGs.

In support of more inclusive and sustainable development, particularly in Africa, the project will research and engage with the knowledge governance regimes impacting regulation for innovation. Informed by gender-based analysis plus, it will analyze imbalances between higher-income economies and lower-income economies in capacity, expertise, power and influence in regulatory fora and propose solutions to help address these imbalances. It will do so through studies of regulatory instruments, exploring practical examples of approaches to regulation for innovation and through action research. It will have a central, albeit not exclusive, focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The project will be led by the Open African Innovation Research network (Open Air) and the University of Cape Town will serve as the administrative centre.

Research outputs

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Language:

English

Summary

While confronting the COVID-19 global health crisis justifiably occupies much of the world’s attention at present, strikingly similar regulatory challenges impact other pressing issues. Unequal access to COVID-19 vaccines has revealed some of the ways in which global, regional, and national regulatory systems are faulty. But regulatory dysfunction in respect of vaccine access equity is merely one symptom of underlying regulatory shortcomings(and thus also opportunities) in respect of pursuit of more sustainable and inclusive innovation. In addition to exposing vulnerabilities, inequalities, and the implications of faulty policies, COVID19 has fast-tracked numerous transformations (including digital transformations) and, in the process, has also offered signposts and opportunities for intervention via sound policies grounded in the public interest principle of inclusion.

Author(s)
de Beer, Jeremy
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