As a Category II Center under the auspices of UNESCO, CISTRAT continued in this year to fulfill the agreement between UNESCO and the Chinese Government by completing the following tasks.
Firstly, the international training workshop continued to be held, which provided technical support for S&T development strategies and policy research of developing countries.
The Second Meeting of the 1st Governing Board, the Second CISTRAT International Symposium Seminar and the Training Workshop on Science and Technology Policy held under the title of “STI Policy Research and Method: STI GAP for the Asia-African Region” were organized by CISTRAT in September, held under the title of “STI Policy Research and Method: STI GAP for the Asia-African Region”. It is worth mentioning that this training workshop not only enrolled 24 foreign students from 10 developing countries, but also recruited 7 Chinese trainees from peer institutions of some provinces and cities which have established a cooperative relationship with CISTRAT. Trainees were taken to Wuhan as for a field study. Through these activities, CISTRAT has strengthened its communications and exchanges with other parts of the world, especially the developing countries, and promoted the development of its own S & T strategies and policies. Meanwhile, CISTRAT has effectively explored the convergence of domestic and international cooperation platforms.
Secondly, international cooperation projects were conducted to strengthen dialogue and cooperation among countries with different models.
In 2013, the China and Germany expert groups continued to promote their cooperation projects "Comparative Study of China-Germany Innovation System ". CISTRAT is was mainly responsible for the liaison and coordination between the Chinese side and the German expert group. CISTRAT received a visit from the German expert group, held the Chinese expert group internal coordination meeting twice. The two sides had completed the writing of their respective reports and general reports. In addition, CISTRAT was had been actively preparing for the "Third China-Germany Innovation Forum." The forum was scheduled to be held in Beijing at the end of the year, but the German cabinet after the election has not yet completed, it was postponed until the beginning of next year.
In 2013, CISTRAT worked together with the International Education Institute to carry, CISTRAT carried out a research project titled "China's disaster response and post-disaster recovery in the process of social participation". In addition, CISTRAT also added conducted six comparative studies of with regard to national STI policies, including "China-Germany Innovation Policy Comparative Study", "Formation Mechanism of China-US Industrial Technology Innovation Policy Comparative Study", "Innovation Policy of China-US Strategic Emerging Industry comparison Research", "US Study on the Disagreement and Countermeasure of High-tech Enterprises in China"," A Study on the Key Areas and Mechanisms of China-EU Cooperation in Science and Technology Innovation"," Research on Market Access and Government Procurement System in China and Europe "and so on, etc.
In addition, in 2013, CISTRAT initialed a preliminary study of Laos science and technology development planning. CISTRAT has identified the researchers involved in this work and has maintained close ties with the Lao side.
Thirdly, international seminars were held to strengthen cooperation and dialogue among different countries in the fields of S&T policy and innovation.
In 2013, the Sino-US non-governmental innovation dialogue mechanism has made substantial significant progress. In August, organized by CISTRAT and the University of California Institute of International Conflict and Cooperation, "A Comparative Seminar on Policy-making Mechanisms of Sino- US Science and Technology Innovation Policy" was held at the University of California, San Diego with joint efforts from CISTRAT and the University of California. A total of 47 delegates from both Chinese and US governments, research institutes, universities and enterprises attended the seminar. One of the major features of this seminar is "discussing without decisions." Through open and free exchange, China and the United States not only had a more comprehensive and more profound understanding on their respective mechanisms and processes of scientific and technological innovation decision-making, but also found a common topic for the two sides in the demand level to provide a greater space for influential cooperation. At present, the seminar has become a fixed content of China-US non-govermental innovation dialogue.
Fourthly, CISTRAT organized joint research projects to enhance the quality of strategy and policy research.
The researcher sent by CISTRAT at the end of 2012 to the Department of Science and Technology Policy and Capacity Building of the UNESCO Department of Natural Sciences, has completed the work in UNESCO and returned to CISTRAT, which further strengthened cooperation between CISTRAT and relevant institutions of UNESCO and UNESCO Member States.
In 2013, CISTRAT received more than 20 delegations from all over the world, in which a considerable number were from science and technology policy departments and government research institutions from in developing countries. During the talks, CISTRAT shared the experiences of China in science and technology strategy, policy and planning with these developing country delegations. In addition, CISTRAT has also received delegations from Germany, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, OECD and other developed countries and international organizations. CISTRAT also invited experts to conduct make presentations, seminars for CISTRAT researchers, so as to introduced the experience of science and technology development in developed countries and the frontier theory theories and policies. All of the above-mentioned events which gave full play to the knowledge diffusion function of CISTRAT’s international cooperation network.
In 2013, CISTRAT researchers visited attend about 20 international seminars and joint research projects in other parts of the world times to strengthen cooperation and exchange in with regards to scientific research and policy-related research through participation in international seminars and joint research missions. Although most of the visiting destinations are research institutes in developed countries, but in recent years to developing countries also increased significantly, including India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, South Africa and other places.
Fifthly, CISTRAT actively participated in activities organized by UNESCO and Natcom, and strengthens the exchange of experience with similar research institutions.
On February 5, 2013, CISTRAT gathered relevant units with cooperative relationship with UNESCO in China, held to hold the " Working Conference of Ministry of Science and Technology and the UNESCO in 2013." A total of 30 delegates attended the meeting, including Mr. Han Qunli, the Executive Director of the UNESCO Natural Science Department, and representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology, representatives of CISTRAT, and the National Committee of the International Hydrological Program (IHP), the National Committee of the Chinese People and the Biosphere (MAB), China International Geological Science Program (IGCP), National Committee and other three UNESCO programs on behalf of the International Sediment Research and Training Center, the International Karst Research Center, the International Center for Natural and Cultural Heritage Space Technology Center, International Science and Technology Strategy Research and Training Center, the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and UNESCO's "Climate Change South-South Science and Technology Cooperation" Geopark Network Center office. At the meeting, the relevant units summed up the main work in 2012 and exchanged views on the work of 2013. Finally, delegates discussed the difficulties and problems in the process of cooperation with UNESCO and made recommendations on future cooperation. The delegates generally reflected that CISTRAT has had built a very good platform for mutual learning and communication which will would help these organizations in China to better have more effective cooperate cooperation with UNESCO in the future.
CISTRAT was represented at the 28th plenary meeting of Natcom, which helped the Centre to grasp the latest policies and trends of the Chinese government in cooperation with UNESCO and exchange experience with other Category II Centres.