WHEN SCIENCE DRIVES POLICY
It is an engine for socio-economic development
DETERMINING how science could create wealth and jobs for the rakyat was the simple, farsighted instruction Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak gave me when I was appointed his science adviser several years ago.
In Malaysia and elsewhere, science is increasingly found at the heart of policy and decision-making.
Whether the issue is climate change, renewable energy, natural disaster prevention and mitigation, food security, or disease pandemics, policymakers want scientific advice.
But, rigorous, useful and timely science advice is not a trivial matter, and taking careful account of such advice in complex policy areas of interest to many different stakeholders is not always straightforward.
To complicate things even further, many issues are of an international nature, and can only be addressed in a meaningful way through collaboration between countries.
Such collaboration can take many forms, ranging from simply sharing of experiences to the establishment of very large multilevel organisations, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Just as many governments around the world have recognised the need to inform their policy decisions with the best knowledge available, some promising initiatives have been started, including the move by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to establish his Scientific Advisory Board and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council.
Two weeks ago, Islamic Development Bank President Dr Bandar Hajjar likewise established a scientific advisory board comprising 10 leading experts on sustainable development.
Various collaborative platforms have also been established recently, such as the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA), the Apec Chief Science Advisers and Equivalents, the Commonwealth Scientific Advisers, and the Foreign Ministries Science and Technology Advisors Network. These are also part of a growing interest in science diplomacy worldwide.
In addition to the post of the science adviser to the prime minister, first instituted in 1984, Najib revamped the National Science Council two years ago to complement the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council for Malaysia which he established earlier in 2010.
Both platforms are intended to assist the government’s efforts to create a high-income economy, and to help raise Malaysia’s international ranking and competitiveness in science and innovation.