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Global scientific research meets the needs of the Global North and is driven by the values and interests of a small number of companies, governments and funding bodies, according to a major new international study released today. rice field. Science, technology and innovation research therefore focuses on some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as tackling climate change, addressing complex underlying social problems, tackling hunger, and promoting health and well-being. It turns out not.
This is all according to a major new report released on Thursday 20th October 2023 by an international collaboration led by the University of Sussex and the United Nations Development Programme. Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) at University College London (UCL). United Nations University; National Science and Technology Research Council, Argentina. Research Center for Innovation and Science Policy in India. Leiden University, The Netherlands. Graduate School of Technology and Management, South Africa. Nesta, UK.
A change of direction: Steering Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development has found that research and innovation around the world is not focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Environment issues.
Importantly, the report finds that research in high- and middle-income countries contributes disproportionately to the SDG gap. Most of the published research (60%-80%) and innovation activities (95%-98%) have nothing to do with the SDGs.
Illustrating this imbalance, the report found that 80% of SDG-related inventions in high-income countries are concentrated in just 6 of the 73 countries, with the United States alone accounting for 47% of such inventions. announced that it is in development.
In both the Global North and Global South, and across areas such as health, food and energy, research and innovation funding is spent on technologies that serve individual interests rather than those that more directly address social and environmental problems. tend to be The study shows that most high-income countries do not prioritize research on key environmental issues related to unsustainable consumption and production patterns.
The survey finds support for these types and forms of innovation, and related research on complex underlying social issues such as deprivation, inequality and conflict. far behind.
According to Ismael Rafols, a senior researcher at the Center for Science and Technology at Leiden University, the study provides strong evidence that world science is ill-oriented to address global challenges. “By studying mainly the problem of wealthy populations, we demonstrate the well-known fact that science in the world is heterogeneous. Rather than taking a more interdisciplinary approach that includes:
The creators of the Steering Research and Innovation for Global Goals (STRINGS) project are calling for science, technology and innovation to become more democratic and more closely aimed at achieving sustainability. This includes a growing body of evidence and tools, such as those provided in the new STRINGS report, to enable more vigorous discussion and investigation of alternative and comprehensive science, technology and innovation strategies.
Simply put, the report seeks to:
- Increase funding for SDG-related research and innovation on underlying social issues, social policy, grassroots innovation, and research relevant to regions and contexts, particularly in low-income countries.
- Promote a rich diversity of science, technology and innovation pathways to address specific SDG challenges, including social and organizational innovation.
- Design accountable initiatives that strengthen science, technology and innovation governance and support open and inclusive processes of deliberation and prioritization.
- Enable stakeholders to shape different interpretations of what is considered SDG-related science, technology and innovation.
Other recommendations from the report also include:
- Fund more research that explicitly explores the tensions and synergies between different dimensions of sustainability, including providing greater support for interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research.
- Include LIC researchers and stakeholders on the Advisory and Governing Boards of the Funders so that their views are taken into account in the planning, definition and evaluation of the research question.
- Involve stakeholders affected by those decisions in decisions about which science, technology and innovation pathways to prioritize.
- Establish a global platform observatory to conduct regular surveys of global research and development, its diversity, comprehensiveness, scale, location, purpose and impact. Collect funder constellations. Create a global money pool.
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