Science and innovation funds key to COVID-19 responses and beyond

Four crucial policies should be implemented to ensure established and fledgling science, technology and innovation (STI) initiatives are not jeopardized in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lessons from the 2008 financial crisis underscore that research and development (R&D) funding tends to drop when disaster strikes – or at precisely the time when funding is needed, UNCTAD says in a new policy brief.

The brief shows that in the aftermath of the financial crisis some countries tightened funding for STI with severe negative consequences and that the same could be true with the coronavirus pandemic.

It cautions against this error, advocating for more near- and long-term investment in STI to support immediate crisis management efforts, and then to maintain that funding to build holistic STI ecosystems with the ability to respond to similar crises in the future.

It also encourages more sustained international cooperation in STI and other multidisciplinary fields.

UNCTAD makes a case for protecting STI budgets during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath, through these four policy measures.

• During the crisis, support R&D activities as part of emergency measures and recovery packages.
• After the crisis, revisit and strengthen the budgetary commitments to support R&D.
• Support a systems approach to policymaking that includes natural sciences, engineering and social sciences.
• Ensure international cooperation and coordinated policy responses.

Already some regional organizations have set targets for R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, such as the European Union’s 3% and the African Union’s 1%, the policy brief outlines.

Commitments such as these signal the continuity and predictability of government R&D support. This has an overall positive effect and enhances trust for future investment, which in turn ensures that critical research continues.

Beyond the COVID-19 crisis, a systems approach is also crucial, the paper notes.

“The resilience and ability to recover from the COVID-19 outbreak will require capabilities in and coordination among not just medical science and public health, but also in a wide range of disciplines such as data science, sociology, psychology, mass transit systems engineering, and others,” it says.

The positive impacts of STI investments could be huge and decisive in ensuring the most vulnerable members of the international community are not left behind.

Original source: UNCTAD
Published on 11 May 2020