(UN HEADQUARTERS, NYC) JUNE 6-7, 2016

The United Nations has set the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of achieving 17 sustainable development goals globally by 2030. The goals listed range from promoting sustainable use of natural ecosystems to the ending of poverty. Due to the ambitious scope of these goals, efficient application of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is required on multiple levels from the municipal to the international. Thus a clarion call for innovations was made through the U.N.’s partners that spans an expansive global network. This Call to Action culminated in the 1st Multi-stakeholder STI Forum for SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The Vision: Ensure that no one is left behind.

It was our pleasure to have been invited to participate in the STI forum on June 6-7, 2016 at the UN headquarters in New York City— the only Philippine private company in attendance

The two day forum involved ministers, academicians, policy makers, civil society, entrepreneurs and other major stakeholders who converged to:

1. Highlight the power of science and technology in achieving SDGs.

2. Bring to the fore the value of awareness of existing technologies that can already be deployed and made available to those who need them in aid of SDGs

3. Establish an enabling environment and roadmap for STI capacity building of individuals, organizations, and countries.

4. Emphasize the value of networking, matchmaking, and supporting innovative solutions by effectively scaling them.

The forum was an important dialogue among stakeholders that, more than anything, brought out essential questions that needed to be asked and thought through when using technology for sustainable development. For instance, importing technology solutions from other countries to address local issues will not do. There are nuances to local realities that are appreciated only by those who live and experience them. Another compelling task is that of balancing efforts and resource allocation across SDGs to avoid duplication, removing inconsistent policy objectives including those generated from limited and weak evidence. This requires thoughtful collaboration that is evidence-based to come up with a stronger STI policy framework.

There are multiple SDGs CreditBPO may impact, but it is Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure that is closest to CreditBPO’s mission. Specifically SG 9.3:

"Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets"

Better access to finance was behind the creation of the CreditBPO Rating Solution for Underbanked SMEs. Our mission of empowering SMEs through improved access to credit cuts through decades of traditional underwriting processes that have been a roadblock to achieving a potential 2 to 3 additional points in GDP growth from the SME sector through job creation and economic growth. Our fintech innovation’s focus is to gain meaningful headway in an emerging economy’s SME development. We feel this is why we were invited to be part of the U.N.’s 1st Multi-stakeholder STI Forum for SDGs.

We look forward to more involvement in succeeding follow-up forums to ensure that this initiative does not end up as a “talking among ourselves and not much beyond that”, but a pro-active movement by any measure for all stakeholders. Indeed, ensuring no one is left behind.