Ahmed Abdel-Latif

Mr. Ahmed Abdel-Latif
Sustainability Science Program
Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 81
Harvard University
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Office: 505 Rubenstein Building
Tel: (1) 617-496-9330
Email: ahmed_abdel_latif@hks.harvard.edu
Group affiliation: Giorgio Ruffolo Research Fellow in Sustainability Science
Fall Term only

Ahmed Abdel-Latif is a Giorgio Ruffolo Research Fellow in the Sustainability Science Program. He is also Senior Programme Manager for Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property at the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development. His research looks at how Brazil has fostered innovation processes for the production of public goods in the areas of health, energy, and agriculture to achieve greater social welfare and sustainability. Ahmed is contributing to collaborative work with the Initiative on Innovation and Access to Technologies for Sustainable Development led by William Clark. As an Egyptian career diplomat he worked at the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization in Geneva (2000-2004) where he was a delegate to the TRIPS Council (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights ) and to the World Intellectual Property Organization. He has taken an active part in international discussions on intellectual property, public policy, and development. He holds an Master of Laws in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, and the Diplôme of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris from Sciences Po in Paris. His faculty host is William Clark.

Innovation for sustainability in health, energy and agriculture: Lessons from Brazil's experience
Faced with pressing demands to expand access to medicines, achieve food security, and meet soaring energy needs, developing countries are seeking to foster innovation systems that can satisfy such demands. To be effective, innovation systems require close integration of a range of public policies, in areas such as science and technology, trade, intellectual property, industry, and education. In this context, Brazil’s public policies in the areas of health, energy, and agriculture have attracted worldwide attention in recent years for their ability to foster innovation and meet societal demands in terms of achieving greater social welfare and sustainability. Innovation processes in these three sectors share some common features: public funding, public research institutions, and the implementation of global trade and intellectual property rules. Brazil’s experience offers valuable lessons for other developing countries and more broadly for global thinking on how to design national innovation systems and public policies that promote wider access to the benefits of innovation.

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