Draft of the 5th Science, Technology and Innovation Policy out for public consultation

What is an STI policy document?

The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we do science, develop technologies and innovate, cannot be emphasized enough! The pandemic did have a positive side as it brought in an opportunity for Research and Development (R&D) institutions, academia and industry to work together, with a common purpose, redefined synergy, enhanced collaboration, and cooperation. But it was a wake-up call for changes at the policy level.

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are the key drivers for economic growth and human development everywhere in the world. A sustainable development pathway for India must encompass economic development, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability; add to that an increased emphasis on promoting traditional knowledge systems, developing indigenous technologies, and encouraging grass root innovations. All this while we must remember that, emergence of disruptive and impactful technologies poses new challenges and greater opportunities, at the same time.

Four national S&T policies, Scientific Policy Resolution, 1958 (SPR1958), Technology Policy Statement (TPS) 1983, STP2003, STIP2013 have guided the evolution of India’s STI ecosystem to meet the needs and challenges of the then ecosystem. This year we have the 5th STI Policy document.

What does the 5th STIP aim to accomplish?

New challenges necessitate a different policy making approach. The new policy is intended to adequately prioritize and strategize across the STI landscape in alignment with United Nations - Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) through a balance of short-term mission-mode projects along with long-term ones. This policy instrument in its design and objective aims to be evidence-driven, inclusive and bottom-up for the well-being of the nation and its people with socio-economic and environmental considerations. The complete draft has chapters on important areas, challenges, and policy-level interventions identified through consultations with subject experts.

A call for public consultation.

“… a STIP policy document version 1.4 has been finalized and placed here after a detailed 4 track process of consultations during last 6 months beginning from May 2020. The process so far involved nearly 300 rounds of consultations with more than 40,000 stakeholders well distributed in terms of region, age, gender, education, economic status, etc. The STIP Secretariat was coordinated, supported, and guided by the Office of PSA, NITI Aayog, and DST,” said the DST website.

Your thoughts will be important to finalize the document. So, write to,
Email ID: india-stip@gov.in
By: 31st January 2021

Here’s a list of resources that can be referred to know about discussions on the policy

• Making of India’s STIP Policy 2020" by Professor K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
• In Conversation with: STIP2020 Expert Interviews
• Across the Table: STIP2020 Panel discussions
• Read about all that led to the present STI ecosystem.