The UNDP Accelerator Lab Network : Intellectual Property, Innovation Policy, Sustainable Development, and the COVID-19 Recovery
This Chapter considers the long-standing debate over intellectual property and sustainable development in the context of the coronavirus public health crisis. It provides a historical overview of the past phases of the debate in relation to intellectual property and sustainable development.This Chapter focuses upon the initiative of the UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner to establish a Technology Mechanism – the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network. This chapter charts the funding, governance, and structure of the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network – and its aspirations and ambitions. It considers the debate about the role of the technology mechanism in generating sustainable innovation. It examines whether this technology mechanism will help fast-track the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).This chapter also charts the impact of the coronavirus upon the fulfilment of the United Nations SDGs. It also explores the role of the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network during the coronavirus public health crisis - both in terms of its response to COVID-19, and its role in a future COVID-19 recovery. This chapter also considers what intellectual property reforms are necessary to boost the SDGs – particularly given the need for a COVID-19 recovery