Government promotes consolidation of the areas of science, technology and innovation
The Minister of Education and Culture, Pablo da Silveira, participated in the inauguration of the National Director of Science, Technology and Innovation, Alberto Majó.
The investiture ceremony was held in the Alba Roballo room of the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), with the presence of ministerial authorities and representatives of educational, research, development and innovation institutions.
Minister da Silveira highlighted that this assumption represents an act of justice and recognition towards Majó, who has already carried out the tasks inherent to the position with responsibility and commitment, since 2020. He also said that the appointment comes at a very good time for the area, because the process of discussion and analysis of the institutionality of the science, technology and innovation sector is already under development, and with a good response from the different sectors of the system.
In this sense, he indicated that the process began in 2022 with the design and execution of four consultancies in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). He added that this year it is planned to hold workshops with all the actors involved to discuss the results and achieve consensus for long-term policies.
In addition, he highlighted the budget increase for the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) through accountability, the almost double increase in the amount for postgraduate and research scholarships and instruments such as the Carlos Vaz Ferreira Fund, to finance to young researchers.
He also mentioned that a fund of 10 million dollars was created to promote the link between innovation and research, and budget reinforcements for the University of the Republic, the Technological University of Uruguay and the Clemente Estable Institute.
Finally, he highlighted that in the Social Security Reform project it was possible to include a set of articles aimed at resolving the helplessness that affected postgraduate research doctoral students in academic institutions, who did not have social security.
Majó, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of debating and discussing the institutional reorganization of the science-technology-innovation system and emphasized the importance of good relations and consensus on the matter. The objective is to synthesize the contributions and generate a new governance of the system, he affirmed.
