9 November 2019 12:00 am Views - 321
Tomorrow the United Nations marks World Science Day for Peace and Development and in a statement the world body highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the people in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.
By linking science more closely with society, World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.
According to the UN, the day offers the opportunity to mobilize all actors around the topic of science for peace and development – from government officials to the media to school pupils.
The day’s main objectives are to strengthen public awareness on the role of science for peaceful and sustainable societies; promote national and international solidarity for shared science between countries; renew national and international commitment for the use of science for the benefit of societies and draw attention to the challenges faced by science and raising support for the scientific endeavour.
The 2019 theme is “open science, leaving no one behind”. Open Science is not only an issue of science being open to the research community, as in “open access” and “open data” but refers to a science open to society.
In spite of the progress made in recent years, we are still witnessing great disparities across and within different regions and different countries when it comes to accessing science, technology and innovation and enjoying their benefits. The UN says to address these disparities and close the existing science, technology and innovation gaps, Open Science is an important step in the right direction.
Open communication of the scientific data, results, hypotheses and opinions, lie at the very heart of scientific process. In this context, Open Science is the growing global movement to make scientific research and data accessible to all.
Open Science has the potential to significantly increase scientific collaboration and discovery and to facilitate adoption of the well-adopted technologies. It can be a game changer for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in Africa, developing countries, and small island developing states.
Let us embrace open science as a tool for making science more accessible, scientific process more inclusive and the outputs of science more readily available for all, the UN adds.
In Sri Lanka with presidential election to be held next Saturday the two major alliances are promising to introduce digital technology’s latest marvels to areas ranging from education to agriculture, health and the accountability process.The Cabinet has approved the provision of tabs to Advanced Level students and teachers in a large number of schools but the process has been delayed because of allegations of kickbacks and commissions amounting to hundreds of millions of rupees. This is the cancer in Sri Lankan politics. Almost every creative innovative and potentially game changing plan is marred or scarred by politicians or officials trying to get huge kickbacks or commissions.
In agriculture the major alliances want to give free organic fertiliser to farmers. They also want to use digital technology to develop the agri-industry so that farmers could preserve, can and export their products thus raising their status in society. Here too and even in the health sector where modern digital medical technology being introduced, the negative or cancerous factor is that politicians or officials have again got involved in corruption to get kickbacks. Therefore, it is vitally important that quick and effective legal action is taken against those involved in corruption however high their positions. Their illegal assets must be ceased along with the imposition of long jail terms and big fines.