This week, the IEA brought together leaders on energy technology innovation from around the world for the inaugural meeting of its Technology and Innovation Advisory Board.
The establishment of a dedicated advisory board on energy technology innovation was supported by Ministers of IEA Member countries at the 2024 IEA Ministerial meeting and agreed by the IEA Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT) later in the year. It will complement initiatives by the IEA Secretariat as well as the CERT, its Working Parties and the IEA Energy Technology Collaboration Programme, which together inform the IEA's work with governments and research institutions on energy R&D and innovation.
The Technology and Innovation Advisory Board will seek to further strengthen this work by providing a forum for engagement with innovation practitioners with hands-on experience developing and scaling up innovative energy technologies - including stakeholders from academia and research, large energy companies, small and medium-sized technology developers, investors, and other players in the innovation system, such as philanthropic funders, representatives from innovation incubators and independent experts.
Its in-depth discussions will help shape the IEA's work on energy technology innovation across all stages of innovation, from R&D and piloting through to demonstration, scale-up and eventual commercialisation. Board members will help to identify emerging innovation-related policy issues, share updates related to flagship energy technology projects, and provide input to IEA reports that track progress on energy innovation.
The meeting this week - which was opened by the IEA's Director of Sustainability, Outlooks and Technology Laura Cozzi and chaired by Timur Gül, the IEA's Chief Energy Technology Officer - included an under-embargo presentation of the IEA's new report, The State of Energy Innovation. The Board plans to hold a second in-person meeting later this year.
The IEA has focused on innovation in energy technologies since its launch, when the Agency's founders looked to innovation to address the energy security challenges of the 1970s. Today, energy innovation is back in the spotlight for policy makers, playing a key role in national energy and industrial strategies given its potential to deliver major economic and security benefits.
