联合国西亚经济社会委员会-西亚经社会内部创新战略（英）-2021.8-16页_1mb

ESCWA Internal Innovation Strategy Summary

Core Content

The ESCWA Internal Innovation Strategy outlines a comprehensive approach to enhance the organization's ability to respond to challenges and drive sustainable development in the Arab region. It emphasizes the importance of innovation as a key enabler for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and aligns ESCWA's innovation efforts with the broader United Nations reform process.

Main Views

• Vision: ESCWA aims to be an innovative catalyst for a stable, just, and flourishing Arab region.
• Mission: Committed to the 2030 Agenda, ESCWA produces innovative knowledge, fosters regional consensus, and delivers transformational policy advice.
• Innovation Aspirations: ESCWA must be more agile, proactive, and efficient to address the complex challenges of its growing clientele. It needs to deploy 21st-century tools to improve service delivery and progress toward the SDGs.
• Innovation Culture: The strategy promotes a bottom-up approach to modernizing the innovation culture, encouraging ideation without judgment, accepting failure, and rejecting silo behavior.
• Innovation Targets: The strategy focuses on five core organizational innovation targets, as illustrated in Figure 1, which include enhancing innovation capacity, building a supportive environment, and leveraging technology.
• Alignment with UN Reform: ESCWA's innovation strategy is aligned with the United Nations Innovation Network (UNIN) and supports the Secretary-General's strategies, including the Data Strategy and Youth Strategy.

Key Information

• Innovation Capacity: ESCWA has improved its innovation capacity over the years, moving from a cultural gap in 2018 to a capability gap in 2019, and eventually becoming an innovation leader in 2020.
• Innovation Culture Assessment: In 2018, ESCWA scored below average on advanced innovation culture elements, indicating a risk-averse approach that hindered innovation.
• Implementation Plan: The strategy includes a Gantt Chart-based action plan that covers both organizational change and new innovation parameters. It is designed to streamline resources and support the execution of the strategy.
• Innovation Lab: A key component of the strategy is the creation of the ESCWA Innovation Lab, which fosters open collaboration and innovation across the organization. The Lab will support various innovation activities, including brainstorming, knowledge sharing, and managing initiatives like the "light bulb" initiative.
• ISO Certification: ESCWA aims to achieve ISO 56002:2019 certification, which is an established innovation management system. This will help in institutionalizing innovation and ensuring continual improvement.
• Partnerships: ESCWA will seek unconventional yet productive partnerships with SMEs, academic institutions, and government agencies to enhance its innovation capabilities.
• Architecture: The strategy promotes a project-based, agile approach to replace the traditional hierarchical structure, enabling horizontal collaboration and flexible processes.
• Evaluation: The success of the strategy will be monitored using ISO 56002:2019 evaluation methods and will be reflected in the annual report and innovation portfolio.
• Culture and Change Management: A change management plan is essential to overcome internal resistance to change and fear of failure, which are identified as major barriers to innovation.
• Recommendations: Several actionable recommendations are proposed, including approving the strategy, digitizing knowledge management, reforming hiring criteria, and disseminating the strategy to all staff members.

Roadmaps and Frameworks

• SPACE Framework: The Strategy, Partnerships, Architecture, Culture, and Evaluation (SPACE) framework is used to guide the innovation process, ensuring coherence and avoiding duplication of efforts.
• Innovation Portfolio: A portfolio of innovation projects will be developed across six clusters, focusing on highly innovative and pioneering initiatives.
• Culture Roadmap: The strategy includes a roadmap to develop empowered and cross-functional teams, which will drive innovation and support the organization's vision.
• Architecture Roadmap: The Innovation Lab is central to the architecture roadmap, aiming to create a dynamic and open innovation environment.
• Evaluation Roadmap: The evaluation process will use monitoring schemes from ISO 56002:2019 to assess the effectiveness of the innovation system.

Conclusion

The ESCWA Internal Innovation Strategy is a vital initiative to transform the organization into a more agile, innovative, and sustainable entity. By addressing internal resistance to change, fostering a culture of innovation, and leveraging technology and partnerships, ESCWA aims to become a role model for innovation within the United Nations system. The implementation of this strategy is supported by a clear action plan, roadmaps, and recommendations, ensuring a structured and effective approach to achieving the organization's innovation goals.