The National Assembly (AN) approved this Thursday in second discussion the project of partial reform of the Organic Law of Science, Technology and Innovation, which must be sent to the Executive for its promulgation.
The reform adapts the investigation in Venezuela “to the new times and to the construction of the future,” said the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, after being approved by a qualified majority.
Rodríguez thanked the effort of the scientific community that from its laboratories, fields, universities and academies make “a projection of the future” in Venezuela.
The project, containing 36 articles, was introduced to the parliamentary debate on May 12, 2021 and was initially presented by the president of the Permanent Commission on Education, Health, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ricardo Sánchez.
In the discussion this Thursday, the parliamentarian Ricardo Molina pointed out that among the modifications it is intended to recognize the intellectual property shared with the State, which is “the one that promotes and finances technological development.”
“The issue that it is about protecting in the background is the construction of socialism. When research is carried out with State resources (…) it is not fair that through the use of those resources, with a revolutionary law such as that of Science, Technology and Innovation, their products are later patented with a capitalist vision, “he said.
In general, the reform seeks to stimulate the technological innovation capacity of the productive and academic sector, both public and private, as well as the strengthening of adequate infrastructure and equipment for support services to institutions.
For this reason, one of the articles establishes that the Ministry for Science and Technology will provide scientific and technological support to the national productive sector and other socio-productive units “to increase their efficiency and contribute to the development of the country.”
It also clarifies that each productive project must contain a scientific component.
This Thursday the Parliament also approved a draft agreement to commemorate the Day of the Indigenous Boy and Girl, and another for the Day of Artisans and Artisans.