Recently, India took part in the Science & Technology Ministerial Roundtable hosted by Japan, which is part of the yearly Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum. This annual event, which was organized at the 17th iteration of the STS forum, featured science and technology leaders from approximately 50 nations worldwide.
The participants engaged in comprehensive discussions focusing on the role of international R&D collaboration, social sciences and humanities, and open science. The aim was to explore arising opportunities from global partnerships to possibly counter the challenges borne out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum
Instituted in 2004, the STS forum was created with the intent to foster open and informal discussion on new-age problems arising from the implementation of science and technology. The forum, which takes place annually starting every first Sunday of October in Kyoto, Japan, endeavours to build a human network to find timely resolutions to these issues.
India’s Global Contributions to Science and Technology
India places significant emphasis on international cooperation in the realms of science and technology, particularly for addressing concerns related to health, water, energy, environment, climate change, communication, and natural disasters. A testament to this commitment is India’s active participation in international mega-science projects such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT).
The country has also exhibited leadership in pioneering global initiatives like Mission Innovation (MI), announced in 2015, and the Coalitions for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The MI initiative, driven by India, France, and the USA, is aimed at accelerating global clean energy innovation, with participant nations committing to double their governments’ clean energy R&D investments within five years. On the other hand, the CDRI serves as an international knowledge platform where countries can come together to fortify their infrastructure against natural disasters.
India’s Response to Covid-19 and Role in Global Health
In the face of the current global health crisis, India has been working on developing vaccines for Covid-19 which are now in advanced stages of trials. The country also possesses the manufacturing capacity to supply these vaccines to a substantial portion of the global population. This crucial role played by India in the pandemic response is in addition to its ongoing contributions to the global pharmaceutical landscape.
National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSA)
The NDSA, put into effect in 2012, was a stride towards making non-sensitive government data accessible online. The policy seeks to promote data sharing and enable access to Government of India-owned data specifically for national planning, development, and awareness campaigns.
Open Government Data Portal
As a part of the Open Government Data (OGD) initiative, the data.gov.in portal was launched in 2012. The goal behind this venture is to provide access to shareable Government of India data in a machine-readable format, therefore promoting openness, flexibility, transparency, and data quality.
