Within the framework of Global South strategies for Science, Technology and Innovation, the following South-South and North-South programmes have been established to achieve COSTIS objectives as well as the Millennium Development Goals:

1. Periodic Fora on STI for Development:
   • Promotes collaboration between groups of scientists, national research councils, academies of science and technology-based private sector institutions on problem-solving research;
   • Each forum addresses global problems (e.g. energy, sustainable development, water management, climate change, biodiversity, biotechnology, etc.) and should result in proposing global solutions and promoting joint ventures between government, academies and private sector;
   • Strengthens science and technology advice to the highest levels of national government in order to ensure the inclusion of science and technology know-how in sustainable development policies and strategies;
   • Improves and expands scientific and technical inputs through appropriate mechanisms to intergovernmental consultative, cooperative and negotiating processes towards international and regional agreements.
2. Network of Universities and Research Centers of the South:
   • Promotes the network of the universities and research centers of the developing countries to strengthen research and knowledge sharing in the South;
   • Reviews how scientific and technological activities in the South could be more responsive to sustainable development needs as part of an overall effort to strengthen current research and development systems;
   • Increases mobility of scientists across the countries to conduct research on common priority problems;
   • Increases access and sharing of affordable state-of-art class research facilities for genomics, bioinformatics, gene technology, and immunology;
   • Mobilizes existing scientific expertise and direct it to specific common research and innovation challenges;
   • Stimulates the emergence and growth of biotechnology innovation hubs and related companies;
   • Trains a significant number of scientists from the South with skills to engage in life sciences;
   • Trains professionals engaged in implementing relevant schemes, empowering participants to organize national level training courses;
   • Focuses on scientific knowledge production and research aimed at biodiversity, sustainability, conservation and rational use of natural resources and new approaches to water management.
3. Capacity Building for Research and Development
   • Builds and sustains units of scientific excellence, assisting them to achieve a critical mass of highly qualified and innovative scientists who will be able to better address real-life problems facing the developing countries;
   • Includes comprehensive review of science training programmes and institutions to identify needs and related universities as well as related agencies;
   • Emphasizes activities and processes that will add new and significant value to existing national, sub-regional and regional programmes;
   • Builds on prior progress/achievements, by maximizing collective learning from previous efforts and promoting synergy among existing sub-regional and regional science and technology initiatives;
   • Shares progress, outputs and impacts in order to meet the needs of the overall community of developing countries.
4. ICT Strategic Planning for Development
   • Promotes awareness and commitment of the political leadership for ICT-for-development by organizing national seminars and high-level dialogues for government officials and other policy-makers on the potential of ICT for promoting development, including education, health, gender equality, e-government, and e-commerce, and the need to mobilize resources for these purposes;
   • Includes formulation of national ICT strategies in coordination with other development partners and specialized agencies to attract investments in infrastructure and training;
   • Includes evaluation of policy issues relating to the introduction of wireless and IP-based technologies that could potentially have an impact on developing countries capacity building programmes;
   • Promotes the development of wireless and power line broadband infrastructure and digital television;
   • Encourages the development of relevant, compelling, user-friendly online and mobile software applications, and affordable tariffs to increase Internet (especially broadband) and mobile penetration in developing countries;
   • Encourages leaders to take an active role in e-governance issues, and raises awareness about the role of ICT in preventing and combating HIV-AIDS, and other infectious diseases.
5. Databank on Indigenous Knowledge and Technologies
   • Prepares comprehensive guidelines and methodologies for auditing and documenting indigenous knowledge and technologies according to best practices currently used around the world;
   • Includes training courses on auditing, collection and documentation of indigenous knowledge and technologies offered by identified institutions and experts;
   • Promotes the network of national indigenous knowledge documentation centers;
   • Promotes the creation of a virtual e-bank of indigenous knowledge and technologies, which includes a common mechanism for provision, access and use of knowledge and technologies in the proposed bank. Countries and institutions participating in the program share benefits in a fair and equitable manner.
6. City Information Management for Sustainable Development
   • Designs a platform for improving academic and applied research exchange among developing countries in their city information process;
   • Designs South-South and North-South city cooperation mechanisms (“city-to-city” cooperation);
   • Utilizes international cooperation of computational study and research exchange in city information management;
   • Aims at developing a research information exchange mechanism and a typical city information strategy useful for cities in developing countries, in particular due to the fact that there are special features and needs from cities in developing countries which are different from those cities in developed countries.
7. Digital Literacy
   • Strengthens the role of the civil society in the promotion of education programmes;
   • Promotes public education, and awareness raising on the role of ICT for development through an intensive capacity building and digital literacy program for the general population, including for various disadvantaged groups;
   • Focuses initially on “training of trainers” to maximize spillover/trickle down effect throughout the society;
   • Promotes the integration of Computer and Internet literacy programs into secondary school programs, which would require proper training and incentives for teachers.