WAITRO Board Meeting Sets Strategic Course for 2025-2026

April 7-8, 2025, Istanbul, Türkiye — The World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO) held its 96th Executive Board Meeting, bringing together leaders to review progress, approve key initiatives, and outline strategic priorities for the coming years. The two-day meeting covered a wide range of critical topics, from governance and membership to digital transformation and global partnerships, setting the stage for an ambitious 2025-2026 roadmap.

Prof. Hasan Mandal, WAITRO President, and Dr. Benjin Luo, Acting Secretary General co-chaired the meeting. Attendees included WAITRO Executive Board Members, the WAITRO Secretariat, WAITRO Operations e.V. (referred to as “WAITRO e.V.”), and guests from Seneca Impact Advisors and Agile Plus Leadership International Ltd.

After approving the agenda, Prof. Mandal led a thorough review of follow-up actions from previous discussions and strategic planning for 2025–2026, ensuring accountability and continuity.

Progress Review

Key focus areas included membership updates, financial and operational reports, and benchmarking analyses on member needs. The WAITRO Secretariat presented detailed reports on these perspectives, covering 2024 financial accounts, the 2025 budget, and the progress on the benchmarking program. WAITRO e.V. presented updates on membership statutes, capacity building initiatives, and the plans for functional arrangements. These discussions reinforced WAITRO’s commitment to transparency, efficiency, and value creation for its members.

Membership and member needs analysis and feedback (benchmarking) took the center stage. The Board reviewed updates on WAITRO’s global network, including the impact of reintroducing membership fees on retention rates. The benchmarking project—WAITRO’s flagship initiative for assessing member needs—highlighted survey results indicating leadership capacity-building as a top priority. These insights strengthen WAITRO’s ability to foster innovation across its global membership.

A recap of the WAITRO Summit 2024 showcased its successes, including the SDG Impact (Poster) Awards, and challenges for future improvements were also discussed for the preparation of WAITRO Summit 2026, for example, effective communication strategies that amplify WAITRO’s global reach.

Looking ahead, the Board approved Regional Focal Points (RFPs) for the 2025-2026 term and outlined plans for 2025 activities, such as capacity-building programs, matchmaking events, and expansion of the Fellowship Programs.

Strategic Discussions

Sessions focused on WAITRO’s long-term vision, particularly its value proposition and visibility.

WAITRO’s unique strength lies in its diversity and adaptability as a platform—a legacy built on fostering bilateral collaboration, funding access, and shared interests like food and energy security. To remain relevant, WAITRO must align with global and regional trends by clarifying its identity and value proposition and leveraging partnerships with associate members, industry leaders, UN agencies, and regional bodies like ASEAN.

WAITRO Secretariat and e.V. will enhance initiatives in member engagement, for example, encouraging member contributions to WAITRO’s communication activities like website content creation and newsletters; upgrades of WAITRO’s digital infrastructure, including a restructured WAITRO website and advancements in the SAIRA system, which were discussed as part of a broader push to modernize WAITRO’s digital footprint.

With insights from the benchmarking program, 2025 capacity-building efforts will focus on training initiatives for RTOs in partnership building, public fundraising, and leadership development. With know-how in the relevant focus areas, potential partners, Seneca Impact Advisors, and Agile Plus Leadership International Ltd, presented their analyses and plans for creating these new training programs jointly with WAITRO to the Board.

WAITRO Summit 2026

The meeting set the stage for the WAITRO Summit 2026, to be hosted by Istanbul Technical University (ITU). ITU’s strong infrastructure, collaboration with TÜBİTAK, and local resource mobilization capacity were key factors in the selection. Reflecting on the WAITRO Summit 2024 theme – “From Innovation to Impact”, Prof. Mandal, WAITRO President, proposed the 2026 theme: “Leading the Path of Implementation: Strengthening Co-Creation for Our Common Future.” This theme underscores WAITRO’s evolution from a collaborative network to an implementation-driven organization, with green energy and digital transformation as cross-cutting enablers of the SDGs. The WAITRO Secretariat and e.V. will develop clear value propositions for the Summit 2026, and a dedicated organizing committee will be formed in partnership with ITU.

The meeting concluded with an open forum for any other business, allowing Board members to address additional topics. On April 7, a technical visit to the Istanbul Technology University (ITU) and a visit to the United Nations Technology Bank of the Least Developed Countries (UNTB) provided further inspiration, highlighting the potential for cross-sector collaboration.