The aim of the plan, drawn up by WIPO’s new Director General, Frances Gurry, is to enable the organisation to respond more effectively to the rapidly changing technological, cultural and geo-economic environment.
The revised programme and budget, approved at an extraordinary session of WIPO, sets out nine aims. In addition to existing goals relating to the balanced evolution of the international framework for IP, encouraging the use of IP for development, and to providing global IP services, WIPO’s new goals include building respect for IP, developing global IP infrastructure, improving communication, becoming the world reference source for IP information, and addressing IP in the context of global policy challenges, such as climate change, public health and food security.
WIPO’s activities in support of development are a priority of the organisation’s new framework, with a dedicated programme, under the direct supervision of the Director General, to ensure effective coordination of work to implement WIPO’s Development Agenda.
The budget includes initiatives to eliminate duplication, cut costs and increase efficiency. “Delivering value for money will be central to our organisational culture,” Gurry told delegates. Member States also agreed to a proposal to create 22 new posts in WIPO.
The new strategic framework “is intended to refocus the work of the organisation in response to the urgent challenges for intellectual property in the 21st Century,” said Gurry.
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