The OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) has built a programme of work based on decades of experience and now plays a leading and central role in global policy development. We do this by:
- Generating incisive economic analysis “from the bottom up” by looking at firm-level dynamics, productivity, sectoral patterns of structural change and emerging policy issues induced by technological developments. This combination of micro-, meso- and macro-approaches provides us with a forward-looking perspective that keeps the OECD at the forefront of the policy agenda.
- Establishing an evidence base that charts the edges of the frontier. From the start, STI has worked to push the boundaries for STI statistics. In 1963, it was R&D; in 2013, global value chains; today it is artificial intelligence (AI). Our economic insights are built on robust data and statistical methodologies. We are part of the OECD’s decentralised statistical system and benefit from an integrated feedback loop of methodological development, data collection, empirical policy analysis and policy advice.
- Setting international standards in areas such as privacy, digital security risk management, AI, neurotechnology, consumer protection and scientific collaboration. STI standards are developed in collaboration with senior OECD policy makers to provide guidance and recommendations to complex policy challenges facing the global community, and benefit from wide stakeholder consultation.