Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, provided the opening remarks and emphasized the importance of this roundtable. "The Chief Science Advisers (or their equivalents) are uniquely positioned in the broader governance system to drive policy decisions by offering evidence-driven science advice," he said.
The Scientific Advice Mechanism's encompassing and cross-cutting nature allows us to establish synergy among many sectors and serve as a catalytic tool to achieve solutions to some of the most difficult, multidimensional, and transdisciplinary situations. With this knowledge and motivation, G20-CSAR is envisioned as a G20 Presidential initiative to promote the agenda for Inclusive Global Science Advice.
Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary of the Government of India's Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, made a presentation on the CSAR and the proposed activities. She gave the broad strokes of the first gathering, which would be held in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, from March 28 to 30, 2023.
Dr. Maini stated that the following agenda items will be considered at the upcoming meeting:
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Possibilities for better disease control and pandemic preparedness in One Health
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Worldwide Collaboration to Increase Access to Academic Scientific Knowledge
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Science and Technology Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Accessibility (S&T)
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An Institutional Structure for Involved, Ongoing, and Action-Oriented Global Science and Technology Policy Conversation
Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur, Joint Secretary, G20 Secretariat, stated in his remarks that science is a cross-cutting theme at all 13 meetings under the Sherpa track. CSAR is a one-of-a-kind programme that is being launched for the first time. Priorities listed are universal in nature and align with India's G20 concept of One Earth, One Family, One Future. As a result, it is important that these problems be discussed at the Chief Science Advisers Roundtable. He emphasized that the conclusions of the debate will be shared with G20 leaders and would be reflected in the 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit.
G20-CSAR is a government-to-government programme developed under India's G20 presidency. The goal of this project is to bring together G20 member nations' Chief Science Advisers and their counterparts, as well as invited countries, to discourse on and establish collaborative frameworks for some of the most important global science and technology (S&T) policy concerns. This endeavour will also contribute to the creation of an effective and coherent global science advice framework.
