The G20 Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable (CSAR) will discuss critical issues such as free and universal access to scientific knowledge, pandemic preparedness, One Health, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in science and technology (S&T), and setting up an institutional mechanism for inclusive, continuous, and action-oriented global S&T policy dialogue. The discussions will take place in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, and Bengaluru before the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, in September 2023. Participating G20 nations will discuss ways to make scientific journals accessible to all, as well as addressing high subscription and article processing charges levied by journals. In addition, the CSAR aims to promote One Health for disease control and preparedness, while addressing socioeconomic equity through research and innovation.
G20 Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable to Discuss Free and Universal Access to Scientific Knowledge
The G20 Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable (CSAR) is set to discuss the issue of free and universal access to scientific knowledge in the run-up to the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, in September 2023. The CSAR is a government-to-government level initiative of the G20 Presidency, and will be discussing issues such as the high subscription prices of scientific journals, open access mandates for public-funded research, and the interoperable inter-linking of national repositories with international repositories and archives.
India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, and the CSAR will be organizing two high-level meetings in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand from March 26-28, 2023 and in Bengaluru from August 27-29, 2023, before the summit.
The CSAR aims to provide evidence-driven science advice to drive policy changes, according to Ajay Sood, principal scientific adviser to the Government of India. Participating G20 nations will be discussing ways to make scientific journals free, immediate, and universal, as well as addressing high subscription and article processing charges levied by journals.
Open access mandates will also be discussed to make knowledge outputs of public-funded scientific research widely available. The hope is that by the end of the August meeting, a consensus will be reached and a statement can be made at the summit.
The issue of high subscription prices for scientific journals is not new, with many papers charging high subscription rates from readers. However, open-access journals are free for readers but charge fees from scientists who wish to publish papers in them. According to Nature, open access papers have drastically fewer lead authors from low-income regions than paywalled articles.
The CSAR’s discussions will be important in finding solutions to make scientific knowledge accessible to all, regardless of their financial situation.
G20 Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable to Discuss One Health and Global S&T Policy Dialogue
The G20 Chief Science Advisers’ Roundtable (CSAR) will be discussing One Health for disease control and pandemic preparedness, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in science and technology (S&T), and setting up an institutional mechanism for inclusive, continuous, and action-oriented global S&T policy dialogue.
Participating G20 nations will be discussing a pandemic preparedness plan for flexible, adaptive, and timely responses to pandemics, as well as integrated disease surveillance mechanisms for humans, livestock, and wildlife. They will also be talking about developing a roadmap for diseases and investing in analytics capacity and data standards such as disease modelling, artificial intelligence, and machine learning tools.
Data sharing will be crucial in responding to future pandemics and modelling, according to Ajay Sood, principal scientific adviser to the Government of India. “There are challenges. In general, there is an understanding that nations would like to contribute to this effort,” he added.
The CSAR aims to provide an open platform for countries to share their thoughts and contribute to the effort of addressing global health issues. Other government-to-government initiatives under the G20 include Science-20 (S20) and G20 Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG).
The S20 Engagement Group will comprise the national science academies of the G20 countries. Meanwhile, the RIIG aims to address socioeconomic equity through research and innovation.
The CSAR’s discussions will be crucial in promoting One Health and pandemic preparedness, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in S&T, and establishing an institutional mechanism for inclusive, continuous, and action-oriented global S&T policy dialogue.
Don’t miss interesting posts on Famousbio
