The fifth meeting of the ESCWA Consultative Committee on Scientific and Technological Development and Technological Innovation (ESTIC) was held on 29 and 30 March 2010 at United Nations House in Beirut. The fifth ESTIC meeting aimed at the following: (a) reviewing the achievements of the Information
and Communications Technology Division (ICTD) of ESCWA during the biennium 2008-2009, addressing its programme of work for 2010-2011 and proposing a strategic framework for the biennium 2012-2013; (b) following up on resolution 284 of the twenty-fifth ESCWA ministerial session in 2008 related to the establishment of the ESCWA Regional Technology Centre; and (c) reviewing the technological impact of ICT and other technologies on climate change.
The meeting resulted in recommendations relating to the implementation of the ICTD work programme and a draft resolution related to the ESCWA Regional Technology Centre to be submitted to the twenty-sixth ESCWA session for adoption. The ICTD work programme for 2010-2011 and the proposed strategic framework for the biennium 2012-2013 were reviewed without changes to their content. Participants included 25 experts in science, technology and innovation, including ICT, from academic institutions and research centres, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations and enterprises. Participants were from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia.