The contrasting sessions on the social impact of Science, Technology and Innovation policies in the Basque Country continue
The contrasting sessions on the social impact of Science, Technology and Innovation policies in the Basque Country continue
The first sessions provide clues on leadership models, the measurement of the impact on the scientific system and the challenges for attracting talent from a gender and collaborative perspective.
Within the framework of the research promoted by the Basque Government and coordinated by Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC) in collaboration with the UPV/EHU and Columbia University, the first contrasting sessions on the social impact of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies in the Basque Country have already begun. The project, which covers the period from 1980 to 2030, seeks to collaboratively interpret the transformations experienced in this field, identify future challenges and reinforce the international positioning of the Basque STI strategy.
This process is supported by a qualitative phase that has already gathered 68 interviews with strategic agents of the Basque STI ecosystem. On this basis, collective interpretation sessions have been initiated to validate, enrich and contrast the preliminary learnings.
The most recent session, held on July 7, brought together a group of women researchers with diverse backgrounds in science and technology (CIC Biomagune, BC3, CFM-CSIC, DIPC, Orkestra, CIC nanoGUNE, POLYMAT and Biobizkaia). In this meeting, some of the same topics discussed in the previous session were addressed, focusing this time on the collaborative dimension:
- Definition of STI policies:
The Basque model has historically prioritized industrial technology, integrating science later, with a sustained commitment over time.
- Transformation of the Basque system: individual and collective change
Tensions and advances between individual and collective change are perceived, highlighting the evolution towards greater public-private collaboration.
- Innovation and disruption: capacities and limits
An incremental innovation culture prevails, but with a certain aversion to risk, which limits the commitment to disruptive innovation.
- Systemic perspective of the STI portfolio.
The Basque ecosystem combines cooperation and competition among agents, but hinders a common country strategy.
- Science-industry disconnection.
The Basque Country produces quality science, but there is still a low level of technology transfer.
- University and its role in the STI ecosystem.
The university needs to strengthen its connections with the rest of the ecosystem and knowledge management strategies.
- Periodic evaluation system.
New roles and indicators are required to value other types of knowledge.
- Own conditions in the development of STI policies:
Factors such as the size of the territory can limit the scope of policies and institutional complexity, but also position the Basque Country as a space for advanced experimentation in Europe.
- Public leadership has been key.
The system lacks flexible and sustained instruments to support innovation, especially in strategic sectors such as biosciences.
- Strategic challenges for the future.
Need to jointly define a global challenge and introduce in the collective imagination the importance of betting on STI policies as a priority area for future development.
In addition, traditional leadership models were questioned, calling for more collaborative structures and evaluation systems that value social impact. Challenges in attracting talent were discussed, as well as institutional rigidity and the lack of collaboration resulting from the current funding model.
The next steps will be to go deeper into these issues to analyze them in greater detail and, together with the participants, define indicators that integrate the gender perspective in a cross-cutting manner from the beginning of the process. We will also conduct in-depth interviews, identify new key actors to continue the contrast and map relevant initiatives to enrich the research.