The UNECE Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration (CECI) promotes the knowledge-based economy and innovation. This newsletter provides a platform for disseminating its results and dialogue within its stakeholder community. For current and previous news about CECI's activities in the area of knowledge-based development, please see http://www.unece.org/kbdnews.

Innovation is a key driver of sustainable prosperity everywhere, and entrepreneurship is the powerful engine that drives innovation. Many of the challenges of innovation and entrepreneurship policies are shared throughout the UNECE region. Snjezana Ivic Pavlovski, Head of Department, Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts of Croatia, discusses the current state of innovation policy in Croatia and announces an international conference discussing the challenges and prospects of innovation and entrepreneurship policies.

Kazakhstan, as other fast-growing countries, focuses on the development of knowledge-based industries and more sophisticated technological processing as a way to strengthen its position in the global market. Zhumatay Salimov, Director at Kazakhstan’s National Agency for Technological Development, discusses the results of its technology forecasting exercise, and the country’s innovation strategy.

Vladimir Nedilko, Head of Department of External Economic Affairs, Belarusian Innovation Fund, discusses the recommendations emanating from a review of the country’s innovation system carried out by UNECE experts and the steps being taken to implement these recommendations.

Social innovation can be defined as new responses to pressing social demands. Better services and different solutions are needed to generate social value by enabling any citizen to become an active part of the innovation process, says Anna Kaderabkova, Research Director at the Czech University of Economics and Management.