Engaging discussion at the AUDA-NEPAD webinar on Global INTAN-Invest
On 16 January 2025, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) hosted the webinar “Beyond Usual STI Measurement | WIPO-Luiss Business School Partnership on Global Investments measurement in Intangible Assets Intangible Assets”.
The event started with a welcome speech by Lukovi Seke (Programme Officer, Science, Technology & Innovation (STI), NEPAD), who stressed the need to move beyond conventional STI indicators like R&D, highlighting the significance of the WIPO-LBS team’s work in addressing this gap.
After a brief introduction by Sacha Wunsch-Vincent (Head, Section, Department for Economics & Data Analytics, WIPO), who emphasized the transformative potential of intangible asset investment for Africa's growing economies, Cecilia Jona-Lasinio (Full Professor of Applied Economics, Luiss Business School) presented the key aspects of the Global INTAN-Invest project. The presentation focused on the CHS framework, the methodology for producing both annual and quarterly estimates, and plans for expanding the country coverage of the Global INTAN-Invest database in the near future. The main findings from the 2024 World Intangible Investment Highlights were showcased, and the challenges in measuring intangible investment were highlighted, particularly those related to measuring intangibles in developing countries, where the informal sector accounts for a large part of the economy.
After the presentation, the WIPO-Luiss Business School team engaged in an insightful discussion with the audience. During this Q&A session, interesting questions raised, particularly about the inclusion of R&D in the asset boundary, the implications of rising intangible investments on productivity and growth, particularly in the context of AI adoption, the absence of intellectual property rights from the framework, and the absence of African economies in the Global INTAN-Invest Database.
The webinar concluded with WIPO's commitment to explore opportunities with NEPAD to include African economies in future editions of the Global INTAN-Invest Database.
The success of the AUDA-NEPAD webinar confirms the importance of engaging with key international institutions to promote discussion on intangibles at a global level, highlighting their pivotal role in driving innovation and economic growth.
