Under the theme, “Transforming Science, Technology, and Innovation Ecosystems of India”, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) organised a national brainstorming session at the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), in New Delhi on the 22nd of May, 2024.
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The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) hosted discussion on crucial topics of research and innovation; equity and inclusion; technology development, translation, innovation, and entrepreneurship; international cooperation; and science, technology, and innovation governance.
The inaugural address was delivered by Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) where he remarked, “We set up several centres of policy research, and we have taken the lead in areas like formulating science and technology indicators, benchmarking those indicators against global practices, and doing evidence-based analysis about the entire scientific and technological ecosystem in the country” indicating that DST is the pioneer in bringing forth the policies to facilitate R&D over the years.
He also added, “At present, as the S&T ecosystem transforms rapidly, we need to design agile and adaptive policies that can sync with the changes.”
He further adds, “We need a long-term policy for creating a very robust and strong ecosystem of basic science research in the country, which can lead to more discoveries and inventions from our country. I hope that all of you who have been working in their respective areas will be able to deliberate and come up with some recommendations that we can take forward.”
Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, President, INSA remarks, “Science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy formation was a mammoth exercise, involving the consultation of a wide range of around 50,000 stakeholders from different sectors and balancing conflicting demands.” He also stressed the necessity on the right form of policy for science to function indicating how the new open National Geospatial Policy could reach benefits of Geospatial information to Indians and help make resources like rural land economically important by defining ownership.
Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Adviser, DST, sketched out the policies of DST research initiatives and chalked out the entire exercise of formulation of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020.
The session ended with the anticipation to develop a comprehensive roadmap for national science policy development, identify specific policy recommendations to address critical challenges within each focus area, foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders, and establish a platform for ongoing dialogue and collaborative policy development efforts.
