The focus of the Global Forum held in Washington on 10th and 11th December was STI Capacity Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development. The GRA was well represented at the Forum. Dr Mashelkar presented a paper entitled 'STI Lead Inclusive Growth : Shifting Paradigms' and Dr Biesenbach's paper focussed on 'Pro-poor Innovation and Pro-Poor STI for Development'.

The 2009 STI Global Forum provided a platform for the generation of new ideas on STI capacity building partnerships for sustainable development.

The Forum explored four specific, concrete dimensions of STI capacity building and asked how well-designed, innovative partnerships can help developing countries build STI capacity around each of these dimensions. The four dimensions discussed at the Forum were:

• Pro-Poor Innovation for Inclusive Social and Economic Development,
• Fostering Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship: Converting STI Capacity into Business Opportunities,
• Training the Next Generation of Knowledge Workers for the Global and Local Knowledge Economy, and
• New Mechanisms for Financing and Implementing STI Partnership Initiatives.