“Science Advice to Governments:
Role of PSA’s Office”
by
R. Chidambaram
Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India
Joint Session of the IAP Executive Committee, IAC Board and IAMP
Executive Committee, INSA, New Delhi, 29 September, 2015.
It is a privilege to address the distinguished members of this joint
Session of
The Executive Committee of the International Academy
Partnership
The Board of the International Academy Council
The Executive Committee of the International Academy
Medical Partnership
I am grateful to Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar, President of INSA and
Dr. Mohamed H.A. Hassan & Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf, Presidents, IAP
for providing me this opportunity.
Introduction
*The position of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the
Government of India (PSA) – was created in 1999. The
Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) has
been in existence for a long time. Since 1999, PSA is ex-officio
Chairman of SAC-C.
*Other systems of Science Advice include
the
Science/Engineering Academies;
the Atomic Energy
Commission, the Space Commission, the Indian Council for
Agricultural Research and the Indian Council for Medical
Research; the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister; and
there are other mechanisms, including informal ones, in
specialized fields.
The Office of the PSA has a multi-departmental role. In India, the scientific
business of the Government has been divided into many scientific
departments, with well – defined areas. But there are subjects which go
beyond individual departments. These are the areas PSA’s Office and SACC focus on.
The SAC-C has, as members, all the Secretaries of the Scientific
Departments, Presidents of the Science/Engineering Academies,
Presidents of Industry Associations, and some other leading scientists and
academics. Thus all the stakeholders in science and technology
development are represented in this Advisory System.
Apart from this comprehensive composition of SAC-C, the PSA’s Office also
has more than 20 Honorary Scientific Consultants, who are specialists in
various fields, ranging from agriculture to supercomputing.
PSA’s Office is also funded for ‘synergy projects’, which are catalytic
projects/synergistic projects (synergising exceptional component
capabilities, as for the Advanced Ultra-Supercritical thermal plant project)
in frontier areas of science and technology.
R. Chidambaram
Science Advice & Government Objective
Science Advice to Government can be suo
moto (in response to a national need, a
new situation or a new global development
in science and technology) or on request
but would generally be in consonance with
the government’s broad objective.
Science advice to Governments must also
factor in the recommendations of
international organizations like WHO, FAO,
IAEA, IPCC, ICSU, etc. and their expert
bodies.
Brainstorming Sessions & Reports
PSA’s Office holds, following requests by the scientific
community, brain-storming sessions and has prepared
reports (under the guidance of SAC-C) on a wide
range of subjects, to provide roadmaps for these
areas. These areas include nanoelectronics, research
& education networks, photonics, next generation
synchrotron radiation sources, cyber security,
batteries and ultra-capacitors,
green chemistry,
additive manufacturing, agricultural sensors, and so
on; and policy issues like attracting young people to
careers in science and public-private partnership, and
many more.
PSA’s Office has a web-site: <www.psa.gov.in>
Mechanisms for Technology Development and Delivery
Technology Development
Through Enhanced Academia – Industry Interaction Interfaces (e.g. CAR,
CMAT & CAREL of PSA’s Office for Automotive, Machine tools & Electronics
Hardware) for ‘pre-competitive applied research’ and what I have called
‘directed basic research’ in these areas
Research
Development
Delivery
Technology Delivery
(e.g. Rural Technology Action Group RuTAG of PSA’s Office)
Through
Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Brokering, Scaling of
Innovations, Concept transfer followed by Re-Innovation
Thermodynamic Equilibrium exists between Knowledge
in the Academic System & Knowledge created in or
transferred to Industry in the already Developed
Countries. There is lack of such Equilibrium in India at
present, except in Nuclear, Space, some areas of Defence
Research and of Knowledge Chemicals, etc. That is why
the R&I Ecosystems are different in India at present and,
say, the U.S.A.
But Things are changing rapidly in India and Industry is
increasingly interacting with Academia.
Rural Development issues are more significant for India
than for already developed countries.
India today seeks international scientific cooperation on
an ‘equal partner’ basis, and science advice should be
guided by this fact.
R. Chidambaram
The Department of Atomic Energy contributed 40 million dollars
worth of super-conducting corrector magnets (sextupole,
octupole and decapole) (Leader: RRCAT, Indore) to the Large
Hadron Collider in CERN Geneva, experiments with which a few
years back gave the first signatures of the Higgs Boson, the
missing particle in the Standard Model or the strangely-called
God Particle! The above contribution was estimated at
European costs; our actual cost was a little over half of this.
The introduction of hi-tech Indian equipment into this multi-billion
dollar facility is a tribute to Indian technology.
India is also contributing to and participating in experiments with two
detectors – CMS (Leader: TIFR, Mumbai) and ALICE (Leader:
VECC, (Kolkata) – and analysis of data from them. The first
signatures of the Higgs Boson came from the CMS detector.
DAE’s participation in ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in Cadarache is for technology development.
R. Chidambaram
CO-OPERATION
COMMERCIAL
Robust Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of ISRO
Till date 51 Satellites from 19 countries have
been successfully launched using PSLV
2 Satellites, jointly built by ISRO- CNES ( French
Space Agency) MEGHA-TROPIQUES & SARAL
for studying water cycle, climate monitoring, sea
state forecasting, etc, were launched in 2011-12
30successive successful launches:
* Mars Orbiter
*India’s first Observatory Satellite
Courtesy: ISRO
ASTROSAT 28th September, 2015
RuTAG – A Synergising & Catalyzing Mechanism for
Rural Technology Delivery of PSA’s Office
RuTAG is conceived of as a mechanism to provide a higher level of
S&T intervention and support, than hitherto achieved.
This intervention which is essentially demand-driven, could be for
technology introduction or upgradation, technology training and
demonstration or through any
other innovative method for
technology delivery. Scientists are eager to help, but, active in their
own fields, they are not the best people for grassroots intervention.
That is why RuTAG is based on interactions with voluntary
organizations, which are led by scientists or which have a strong
scientific component, so that their dialogue with scientists, whose
knowledge is required to be transferred, becomes easier. RuTAG is
centred in 7 IITs at present , but with links to other R&D
institutions (e.g.. BARC) and universities/colleges.
RuTAG is an open platform innovation strategy for rural technology
delivery.
R. Chidambaram
R. Chidambaram
Isotope Hydrology Technique : RuTAG/HESCO-BARC work in Uttarakhand
(RuTAG is an Open Platform Innovation Strategy of PSA’s office)
Identification of Recharge Zones to Drying Springs in Gaucher
Measurement of ratios of environmental stable isotopes of 18O/16O, 2H/1H and
environmentally present radioactive tritium.
Based on the above analysis, artificial recharge structures, constructed at selected
locations, increased the rate of discharge by three to nine times in many springs and
also two new springs sprang up. An Environmental Lab has been set up by BARC
last year at Dehradun, operated by HESCO.
New Spring that
Appeared
subsequently
from K. Shivanna, Gursharan Singh, A.P. Joshi et al, Current Science(2008) & subsequent work
This technique has been so successful that it is being replicated for aquifer recharge in other hilly
areas
R. Chidambaram
Bridging the gap: An Example of Knowledge Brokering
DRDO–HESCO Initiative (Catalyzed by PSA’s Office)
“..the best innovators use old ideas as the raw materials for one new idea after
another. We call their strategy knowledge brokering .. The steam engine, for
one, was used in mines for 75 years before Robert Fulton developed the first
commercial steamboat ”..
Andrew Hargadon & Robert I. Sutton, Harvard Business Review, May 2000
Collapseable, therefore transportable, Bridge with the following essential features:
Connecting two corners of a gorge, Low cost locally fabricatable components
Newly installed bridge at HESCO Gaon, near Dehradun, over “Asan Ganga”
Inaugurated July 17, 2014
R. Chidambaram
Other Roles of PSA’s office
* Major suggestions made by PSA’s Office &
SAC-C have been accepted by the
Government, like establishment of National
Centres of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (in
IISc Bangalore and IIT Bombay), initiating
R&D on Advanced Ultra-supercritical Thermal
Plant, etc.
* Sometimes PSA’s Office is directed by the
Government to coordinate a leading research
and technology initiative, which is multidepartmental (with PSA as Chairman of the
High Level Committee, for example, of the
National Knowledge Network, of which NIC is
the implementing agency)
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)
Rated among the best nanoelectronics centres in the world
Indian Nanoelectronics Users Programme (500 projects, 300 Institutions, >300
papers and >30 patents). Has strong international collaborations. Has attracted a
large number of young faculty from abroad.
IISc Bangalore focus areas:
•
•
•
•
MEMS/NEMS, Nano-bio sensors
Micro and Nano Fluidics
Nanomaterials; new materials for CMOS
Thin Film Technology
• Over 40 faculty members from 10
Departments
IITB Mumbai focus areas:
• CMOS devices; Flash Memories
• Spintronics; GaAs and GaN devices
• MEMS/NEMS
• Over 35 faculty members from 8 Departments
Courtesy: Prof. Juzer Vasi, IIT, Bombay & Prof. Rudra Pratap, IISc, Bangalore
National Knowledge Network (NKN)
(A multi-10s gigabit per second core optical-fibre network)
R.S. Mani, Project Director, NKN
►
The idea of setting up the NKN was
deliberated upon & finalised in the
office of the Prinicipal Scientific
Adviser (PSA) and the National
Knowledge Commission(NKN) after
a collaborative engagement with
the key stakeholders
Knowledge
Institutions
(research & education) already
connected: 1450+
► Also International Connectivity
:
►
►
The NIC is the implementing
Agency; PSA chairs the HighLevel Committee for NKN.
NKN (National Knowledge Network)..NIC Project
APPLICATIONS
High Energy Physics
NKN e-Classroom
NKN
National and International
Research & Innovation
Collaboration is facilitated
by e-connectivity
Grid for Climate Change, Brain
Research Grid, Cancer Grid,
etc. Planning a Grid for Solar
Photovoltaic Research
Remote Experiment
The first World Science Advisors’ meeting was held on
28th &29th August, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. The
meeting
differentiated between
“Science for Policy
Making”, i.e. providing science-based evidence for policy
decisions, and “Policy for Science”’ i.e. determining thrust
areas in Science & Technology for support. The priority
mix between the two depends on the level of S&T
development in the country, and the science advice given
to/sought by Governments would also correspondingly
vary.
There was a consensus in the meeting that there
is no single prescription for scientific advice to
the Govt.
In the introductory comments to my presentation, I said
that India is a ‘large economically-developing country’,
where parts of the S&T System are highly developed.
R. Chidambaram
International Network for Government Science Advice.
Newsletter, 12 May 2015.
“As a legacy of the first global conference on science advice to
governments held in Auckland New Zealand last August, the
International
Network for Governments Science
Advice
(INGSA) was formed.
“INGSA mission is to provide a forum for policy makers,
practitioners, academies and academics to share experience,
build capacity and develop theoretical and practical approaches
to the use of scientific evidence in informing policy at all levels
of government…our revamped website, now located at
scienceadvicenetwork.org.
“…it has been agreed that INGSA will operate under the aegis
of the International Council of Science, which will
act as
trustee for INGSA
funds and provide
validation of its
governance arrangements.”
THANK YOU