TIV was invited by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to support the drafting of Cambodia’s new STI policy (part of Cambodia's Rectangular Strategy Phase 4). The engagement included a Workshop on the Draft of Cambodia’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy in which TIV CEO Mr. Gupta was a distinguished speaker. The event was hosted by the General Secretariat of the National Science and Technology Council of Cambodia. The constituent audience was comprised of Asia and the Pacific’s highest leaders in innovation, science and technology, in addition to global experts from academia and industry.

In particular, TIV’s major contribution was a proprietary analysis on the current technology trajectory of Cambodia in its report, “Rapid Assessment of Cambodia’s Innovation Ecosystem.” The report was done to actualize of the goals set forth by the Kingdom of Cambodia in their 2014-2020 Science & Technology plan. The expert analysis featured a survey of Cambodia’s innovation framework, with detail on its current strengths and weakness. Then, we elaborated on the necessary conditions that must be in place for sustainable growth, including advocation for linkage between knowledge producing bodies and the private sector, and improving the existing ICT infrastructure in Cambodia. The report also investigated how STI can contribute to not only sustainable and inclusive development, but also how STI foster social development and environmental sustainability.

The investigation also provided the historical context for the state of STI in Cambodia and highlighted numerous social and economic challenges which may be impeding progress. For example, one barrier to growth mentioned was the role of poverty, unemployment and lacking education of Cambodia’s youth – an extremely important workforce in the innovation sphere. TIV followed this analysis by offering carefully tailored recommendations for novel regulations and policies that Cambodia should introduce to foster human capital development, e.g. expanding STEM education and reforming the country’s National Quality Infrastructure. Moreover, TIV also offered previously absent commentary on the state of the institutional IP framework in Cambodia. Our work entailed an investigation of laws surrounding Trademarks, Patents and Copyrights in Cambodia, with an associated action plan to address deficient components of each. Finally, the assessment incorporated feedback from interviews with 15 key stake holders from the highest echelons of government and global finance, including the World Bank, Cambodia’s Ministry of Finance and Cambodia’s Development and Research Institute (CDRI).