Jamaica’s national science, technology and innovation policy (2023–2029)

Jamaica’s National Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Policy: Catalysing National Development provides a renewed framework to harness science, technology, and innovation as drivers of sustainable development by 2029. It updates the 1990 policy in alignment with Vision 2030, aiming to create a technology-enabled society and foster a culture that values ST&I across all sectors.

The policy outlines five national goals: building a dynamic innovation system, promoting a culture of innovation, integrating ST&I into national development, enhancing research capabilities, and ensuring an enabling policy environment. It emphasises inclusive stakeholder engagement and reflects national consensus across public, private, academic, and civil society actors.

To achieve these goals, the strategy promotes adaptive and incremental innovation, development of human and institutional capital, strategic use of local knowledge, and global linkages, especially with the diaspora. A National Implementation Plan will guide the policy rollout, with coordination by a newly proposed National Commission on Science, Technology and Innovation (NCSTI) and oversight from the responsible ministry.

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