During a protocol meeting that was held in the offices of our Rectory, both authorities addressed issues of relevance to research, innovation, and knowledge development in the country. “We have high expectations regarding this ministerial management. Minister Aisén Etcheverry was the national director of ANID and executive director of Conicyt”, remarked the highest authority of the Usach.
Enzo Borroni Ricardi, USACh Journalist.- Chile has a great concern and debt with the financing of science research, which currently does not reach 0.5% of GDP. The Government of President Boric has set a goal of reaching 1%, which, although it is seen as a small margin, in budgetary matters it is about large figures.
It is for this and for various other issues of interest that the rector of our University, Dr. Rodrigo Vidal Rojas, received the new Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Research, Aisén Etcheverry, in his office, with the aim of reflecting on and forging future commitments in this important area of production.
“Today we have enjoyed the visit of the minister who is talking with rectors about the issues of doing science in Chile (…) They want to reach a higher percentage to provide basic funding for research in universities,” said the Dr. Vidal Rojas.
The highest authority of the Usach highlighted that in the interview with the Secretary of State two important items were established: the first, which points to how to advance in the creation of new areas of knowledge and innovation in Chile, considering that the resources that come from ANID are quite restricted. And second, how to move forward with a contribution from universities for research, knowledge creation and innovation.
“In this sense, our House of Studies has enormous comparative advantages with respect to other entities. It can make great contributions -apart from the world of science- in areas such as Economics, where the economic perspective and management of resources is essential to address sustainability problems, or the contribution from the Social Sciences and the Humanities; as well as Architecture, through urbanism and territorial ordering; technologies and a green industrial design”, commented Dr. Vidal.
He further added that “We have high expectations regarding this ministerial management. Minister Etcheverry was national director of ANID and executive director of Conicyt”, assured.
For her part, the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Aisén Etcheverry, who assumed this position a few weeks ago, indicated that from her portfolio they consider essential the work with the houses of studies and specifically with the state ones.
“I have been working hand in hand with universities for years, I believe that in these spaces is where the public is built and the creation of new knowledge, science and innovation is projected, and also, it is the place from which, responsibly, Rectors, from Hand in hand with the Ministry, they can coordinate and generate joint plans for the benefit of the country”, he declared.
The Secretary of State maintained that she sees the main allies of the Ministry in the universities, and as President Boric mandated, all ministers have the obligation to listen and understand where the opportunities and challenges lie.
“When we talk about science, technology and innovation and we put it at the service of the country’s needs, the logic of competition goes to the background and coordination and collaboration between universities becomes more relevant, and that is something that today it exists at the level of state universities.”, said the government authority.
Minister Etcheverry indicated that her approach is consistent with President Boric’s program, in which The biggest challenge is to promote a new model of sustainable productive development, which has certain characteristics, among them: respectful of the environment, sustainable and has to take care of the social inequalities that the country has.
“That is my north. How to generate capacities, coordinate the actors of the system and promote projects that contribute to this logic of a new development model, so that when this Government ends, we have the pillars already installed and from there we can build a developed country advancing towards a State of Well-being, which is what we all want”, concluded the head of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Research.
