Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka has contributed extensively to the field of innovation and development over the past two decades. Having obtained a PhD from the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, UK, he has worked for the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, the African Technology Policy Studies Network, UNCTAD and UNU-INTECH (now MERIT). He is currently Director of the Monitoring and Research Division at UN-HABITAT in Nairobi.
Padmashree Gehl Sampath is an expert on innovation and development issues having worked for several years as a Researcher at the United Nations University-MERIT and then as a Lecturer on International Development and Innovation at the Open University, UK. She is currently a United Nations staff member at UNCTAD, Geneva and has contributed extensively to international and regional debates on these issues through her research and from the various projects that she has led in the field.