Every five years, this report maps the latest trends and developments in national and regional policy landscapes, against the backdrop of shifting socio-economic, geopolitical and environmental realities.
The World Science Report was first officially evoked in 1992 in the Preliminary Proposals by the Director-General concerning the Programme and Budget for 1994-1995.
The document states that, 'on the basis of the lessons drawn from drafting and publishing the first UNESCO World Science Report, measures will be taken to refine and improve this undertaking'.
The release of the latter edition was delayed to June 2021 to enable the report to analyse the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world's science systems.
Published in June 2021, the seventh report in the series arrived at a crucial juncture, as countries were one-third of the way to the 2030 deadline for achieving their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report revealed that countries of all income levels shared a common agenda at this time for transitioning to digital and 'green' economies.
For the first time, an analysis of scientific output broke down the broad field of cross-cutting strategic technologies into its sub-fields, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, energy and nanotechnology.
This dynamic built on the trend towards greater international scientific collaboration, which bodes well for tackling this and other global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
The 2021 edition concluded that countries would need to invest more in research and innovation, if they were to succeed in their dual digital and green transition.
Despite this progress, eight out of ten countries still devoted less than 1% of GDP to research in 2018, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, perpetuating their dependence on foreign technologies.