Colombia injects $30 million into the country's science, technology and innovation

Over the next 10 years, Colombia will have a fund of 30 billion pesos available to promote science, technology and innovation in the country. Of the money, it was indicated that 20 billion are delivered to the sector through Conpes, and the other 10 billion will be delivered through the General System of Royalties.

The announcement was made by the president during the presentation of the progress achieved by the International Mission of Wise Men. It should be recalled that this group was born in 2019, when the Presidency of the Republic convened 47 national and international experts with the aim of contributing to the construction and implementation of public policy on education, science, technology and innovation.

The group is made up of 16 international members and 31 national members, all experts in different scientific fields in Colombia. It was indicated that they have worked ad honorem, helping to “chart the route for the construction of a knowledge-based society in Colombia.”

On Monday, the progress made in the implementation of the eight foci established by the Mission of Wise Men was presented, as well as the ongoing and short-term actions that will allow the National Government to take new positive actions for the country. This Mission has been tasked with designing and implementing the strategies that must be implemented in Colombia, in the long term, to respond to productive and social challenges in a scalable, replicable and sustainable manner, and to build a knowledge-based society.

Thus, Duque assures that his Government will leave the fund for this sector and ensure that the group continues to work for at least the next 10 years. In addition, he highlighted four other milestones.

Among the achievements, he noted the consolidation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. He mentioned that despite what he called a 'stumbling' before the Constitutional Court, which declared the Law by which the Government portfolio was created unenforceable, his administration made the consolidation of the entity viable.

As a second milestone he mentioned the so-called institutional governance and as a third he mentioned that his administration is the one that has managed the most doctoral scholarships in the history of the country, with 4,000 of them. And the fourth achievement was the expansion of the National Laboratory System. It should be remembered that before the pandemic there was only one trained to test for covid-19 under the Berlin Protocol, to more than 167 laboratories throughout the territory.

In addition, the president took advantage of the space to confirm that this year 30% of the national territory will be defined as a protected area. He also ratified that the ARC Simon Bolivar will enter into operation as the only oceanographic vessel in the country. The objective of both actions is to work on the protection of Colombia's maritime areas, which are part of that reserve declared and expanded at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, in conjunction with Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama.

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