WIPO's ARDI Programme Joins Research4Life
For Release: 13 October 2011
For Information, contact: Andrew Czajkowski, Innovation and Technology Support Section World Intellectual Property Organization (contact: [email protected])
Geneva, Switzerland – The Research4Life partnership, which enables free or low cost online access in the developing world to vital scientific research, is joined today by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), making its ARDI (Access to Research for Development and Innovation) programme the fourth programme in the partnership.
Launched in 2009, ARDI was developed together with 12 major scientific and technical publishers in close cooperation with the Research4Life programmes, which include WHO’s HINARI (Access to Research in Health), FAO’s AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) and UNEP’s OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment). With a particular focus on applied science and technology, the ARDI programme seeks to reinforce the capacity of developing countries to participate in the global knowledge economy and to support researchers in developing countries in the innovation process to create and develop new solutions to technical challenges faced on a local and global level.
Kimberly Parker, Chair of the Research4Life Executive Council and HINARI Programme Manager says: “Researchers in low-income countries will now have access to the source materials that will help fuel their own technological breakthroughs. We’re delighted that ARDI is now the fourth pillar of Research4Life.”
ARDI brings to the Research4Life partnership not only WIPO’s expertise and resources in the area of knowledge infrastructure, including its powerful free PATENTSCOPE patent search service, but also a growing network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) based in universities and research centers around the world, whose trained staff support local users in effectively accessing and exploiting technological knowledge.
According to a statement by Mr. Yo Takagi, WIPO Assistant Director General, “ARDI represents an important contribution by WIPO to the establishment of a solid and accessible global knowledge infrastructure. By joining the R4L partnership, ARDI will be in a position to foster an active exchange of ideas and technologies, the underpinning of sustainable long-term development, on a global scale.”
About Reseach4Life
Research4Life is a public-private partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM), Cornell University, Yale University and several technical partners including Microsoft. The partnership’s goal is to contribute to the attainment of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, reducing the knowledge gap between industrialized countries and developing countries by providing affordable access to critical scientific research. Since 2002, The Research4Life programmes have provided researchers at more than 5,000 institutions in 105 developing countries with free or low-cost access to over 8,000 leading journals in the fields of health, agriculture, and environment.
About WIPO
WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest. It has a mandate from its 184 member states to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among states and in collaboration with other stakeholders. WIPO’s activities fall broadly into three areas, namely, the progressive development of international IP law, IP capacity-building programs to support the efficient use of IP, particularly in developing countries, and services to industry which facilitate the process of obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and alternative dispute resolution options for private parties.
