- The objective is to improve coordination and avoid the current dispersion and duplication between the Central Administration and the autonomous communities in this area.
- De Guindos highlights the need to promote excellence in research to promote growth and employment despite a difficult context
Today the Scientific, Technological and Innovation Policy Council has been constituted in an event held at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid. The Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities are represented in this new body and their purpose is to set the strategic direction of policies in this area. The objective is to improve coordination between the different areas of the public sector to promote one of the key policies in the competitiveness of the Spanish economy.
The Minister of Economy and Competitiveness, Luis de Guindos, has chaired this first meeting of the Council, which has also been attended by the Ministers of Defense, Pedro Morenés, and of Education, Culture and Sports, José Ignacio Wert, as well as representatives of the Ministries Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; Treasury and Public Administrations; Inside; Promotion; Industry, Energy and Tourism; Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Health, Social Services and Equality. Those responsible for R + D + i from the 17 Autonomous Communities also participated.
In his speech, Luis de Guindos highlighted the importance of this Council, in charge of "ensuring the efficient use of available resources and means, avoiding the current dispersion and the existence of duplications in existing plans and policies." The Minister has highlighted the leading role that this Council must have to ensure that Science and Innovation become valuable instruments to respond to the needs of companies and citizens.
He recalled that the 2012 National Reform Plan presented by the Government pursues the objective of promoting research excellence to achieve the objectives of growth, employment and competitiveness, through the innovation of our production environment. All these challenges, he added, remain a priority for the Government even in a difficult context such as the current one.
He also referred to the “need to promote smart regional specialization, in which the scientific and technological development of each Autonomous Community is closely linked to its scientific and productive capacities, and which must promote collaboration and the creation of synergies between them”.
objectives
The Council today constituted – which will replace the current General Council of Science and Technology – intends to ensure that the use of available resources and means is more efficient, as well as approving the criteria for the exchange of information between the Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities. It is about joining efforts to adapt the Spanish System of Science, Technology and Innovation to the needs of the 21st century.
Its implementation is one of the keys to national coordination in promoting research in Spain, together with the constitution of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation and the Spanish Committee for Research Ethics (advisory body on the subject ).
Among the many functions of the Council, the preparation and reporting of the proposals of the Spanish Strategy for Science and Technology and of the Spanish Innovation Strategy, as well as promoting joint activities among all administrations for the good development of the state scientific policy.
