Technical coordination and organization of matchmaking actions and business rounds in the area of sustainable agriculture

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ECLAC - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Thursday 7 Jul 2022 at 23:59 UTC

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Result of Service Final report containing contributions to enable the organization of future actions in the mentioned technological area (Sustainable agriculture), with a view to expanding the understanding and use of green, clean and marketable technologies, subsidizing decision-making processes and public policies to promote the commercialization of green technologies.

Work Location Brasília

Expected duration 120 DAYS

Duties and Responsibilities EUROCLIMA+ is a cooperation program funded by the European Union, which is aimed at reducing the impact of climate change and its effects in Latin America by fostering climate mitigation, adaptation, resilience and investment. To this end, the program carries out actions that are considered of strategic importance for the implementation of the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Within the scope of the Country Dialogue between the EUROCLIMA+ Program and Brazil, Priority Action 9 was approved, named “Building a national and regional strategy for the development and adoption of sustainable technologies”, led by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) of Brazil and implemented by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) of the United Nations. Since 2012, INPI has implemented a permanent service directed at the so-called “green patents”, with the aim to contribute to the fight against global climate change, accelerating the final decision on requests related to technologies aimed at the environment. In addition, in 2019 it launched its “Green Patents 4.0 Program”, which adds a series of action axes to the so-called accessory technologies for industry 4.0. Prioritized Action 9 – Green Patents seeks to fill knowledge gaps related to the use of patents as a mechanism for the diffusion of green technologies, especially those that reduce climate impact. In particular, the project aims, on the one hand, to promote and increase visibility of the INPI's Green Patent Program, in view of its pioneering character, its results (for example, in terms of reducing the time taken to decide on patent requests for these technologies) and associated lessons learned along its implementation path. On the other hand, the project also seeks to deepen the relations between the Patent Offices of Latin American countries, strengthen the peer exchanges in the region in the area of green technological development as well as to promote of business involving green technologies. This consultancy is part of Objective 4 of the project, which consists of promoting matchmaking and business rounds in the so-called green technologies between the European and Latin American continents. JUSTIFICATION: The traditional inter-institutional relations of industrial property institutes are generally aimed at training and exchanging experiences in patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, among other industrial property titles. Other topics of equal relevance are those actions aimed at raising awareness of the importance of intellectual property, innovation, commercialization and technology transfer, and technical cooperation for the adoption of good practices. It is in this regard that the cooperation with the Danish Embassy stands out. In a partnership formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed during the INPI's mission to Denmark in October 2019, the parties agreed to create innovation networks for collaboration in research and product development in areas of mutual interest for the benefit of both countries. Such actions were designed to be developed in three specific areas: Agribusiness (2020-2021), Health (2021-2022) and Sustainable Energy (2022-2023), aiming to support knowledge sharing, innovative initiatives, research and development partnerships, and technological licensing. In 2019, the WIPO Green division, subordinated to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, in its acronym in English and OMPI, in its acronym in Portuguese), accepted a request made by the Brazilian INPI to carry out a special project called “project of acceleration”, dedicated to connecting environmentally sustainable solutions with service providers and technologies via the WIPO platform, which works as a kind of IP Market Place, with consulting services specially hired to facilitate the insertion of technology offers on the WIPO Green platform. After national consultations, Argentina and Chile agreed to be part of the project. In the case of Brazil, the field chosen in agreement with WIPO was the no-till field. The combination of such experiences, both with the Danish government and with WIPO Green, make up the INPI's expertise to promote the so-called matchmaking actions and business rounds, one of the main products of the "innovation memoranda of understanding" initiative, within axis 6 of the INPI Brasil's “Programa INPI Negócios”. The focus of the action envisaged within the scope of the EUROCLIMA+ Program is to cooperate to stimulate the generation and commercialization of innovation from the birth and development of partnerships between Brazilian and foreign institutions in Latin America and Europe, both public and private, by incentivizing joint technological development, for the generation of IP assets in joint ownership. Furthermore, the current global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to embark on sustainable and inclusive paths of recovery. The opportunities for innovation arising from disruption and the new normal to come should be embraced and seen as a time window to reinvigorate the regional and global economy to deal with the social and economic effects of the pandemic, as well as the climate change and other environmental challenges.

PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY: The consultancy aims to technically coordinate the organization of matchmaking actions and business rounds in green technologies, particularly in the field of sustainable agriculture, between companies, associations and entities responsible for national and foreign R&D activities, whether public or private, with a view to promoting potential new business. METHODOLOGY AND STRUCTURE: The consultancy work may be carried out remotely. In close coordination with INPI, ECLAC and other partners that organize matchmaking and business rounds, the consultancy shall: a) Develop and agree on a detailed work plan, which considers the effective technical needs for the organization of matchmaking activities and business rounds; b) Map possible interested parties to participate in matchmaking activities and business rounds, identifying relevant actors and their interests, in addition to facilitating and intermediating contact and dialogue with them. c) The consultant shall concentrate efforts on the list, provided by the organizers, of Latin American countries engaged in participating in the project, as well as a preliminary list of suggested institutions. d) The mapping exercise shall include the definition of the scope of action (European countries and European institutions, both public and private) that are more adherent to the project. e) The consultancy shall contact the identified institutions to invite them to showcase technological development projects or technologies already patented, as well as assist them to participate in a webinar promoted by the project partners. f) It should be recognized that the webinar serves as a matchmaking event for co-development and future collaboration. In addition, it will be up to the consultant to assist in the organization of business rounds. g) Participate in meetings to discuss and prepare match-making activities and business rounds, offering technical support for their effective execution. h) Technically guide the conception, formatting, preparation and execution of match-making activities and business rounds, including the identification and delimitation of the ambition of the expected results. i) Prepare partial and final reports detailing the progress of the work. The consultant's technological areas of expertise are (with the corresponding indication of the International Patent Classification – IPC): Sustainable agriculture 1 Zero till (A01B49/04) 2 Fertilizers (C05D e C05F) 3 Forestry (forest cultivation : A01G 23/...) 4 Alternative pesticides (A01N 25/00 - 65/00) The consultant will receive from the organizers a list of Latin American countries engaged in participating in the project in the technological fields described above, as well as a list of suggested institutions.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: - Graduation in any field of knowledge. - Desirable - Master's or Doctorate in any field of knowledge. Experience: - Professional experience: At least 5 years in the field of sustainable agriculture.

Desirable requirements: - Specific experience of innovation and technological development. - Publications on the topics covered by the consultancy - The consultant must have extensive knowledge of public and private institutions in the technological areas of their activity, both in Latin America and Europe. Language: - Fluency Portuguese - Intermediary English

Additional Information Outputs/ Works Assignment: Product 1 – Work plan presenting how the consultancy will be conducted to achieve the proposed objective. To be submitted 30 days after start date. Product 2 - Preliminary report containing mapping of possible Latin American and European countries and institutions and relevant inputs to the process of organizing the matchmaking activities and business rounds. To be submitted 75 days after start date. Product 3 Final report containing the mapping of Latin American and European institutions as well as the scale of organization of the webinar and possible business rounds. To be submitted 120 days after start date. Reports must be delivered in Word and PDF format in English or in Portuguese if so agreed with ECLAC and INPI. Bibliographic references must follow the ECLAC standard.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: careers.un.org