CONACYT present at the I CILAC Forum
conacyt.gov.py
Yesterday it started in Montevideo (Uruguay) CILAC 2016, I Open Science Forum – Latin America and the Caribbean, one of the most important regional science, technology and innovation activities in recent times. From September 7 to 9, at the facilities of the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU) and in various places in the city, more of 200 panelists from 20 countries around the world will participate in more than 100 simultaneous activities.
Ministers and high national authorities from the region and other regions, top scientists, young entrepreneurs, business leaders, artists and scientific dissemination centers from across the region will meet in this framework. On the occasion, the Minister President of CONACYT, Eng. Luis Alberto Lima Morra, was present, along with the Executive Secretary of CONACYT, Dr. Idelin Molinas. For Lidia Brito, Director of the UNESCO Regional Science Office, CILAC is above all “an opportunity, an exceptional platform for dialogue that will reinforce in our region the importance and power of science, technology and innovation for transformation of Latin America and the Caribbean'.
The President of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, inaugurated the event, in which ministers and high authorities of science, technology and innovation attended from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guyana, Paraguay, Portugal, and Uruguay. International organizations will also participate in the activity, to mention a few: OAS, UNASUR, SEGIB, OEI, IDB, CAF, ECLAC. The results of these days of work will constitute an important contribution to the debates on the development of public science, technology and innovation policies in Latin America and the Caribbean. They will also be fundamental inputs from the region for the next World Science Forum “Science for Peace”, to be held in Jordan in 2017.
Simultaneously, CILAC will appropriate different points of Montevideo's public space that will synergize science and innovation with the most diverse aspects of everyday life: art, music, entertainment, among others. The proposal is to transcend the limits of scientific policies and practice, to find science in the most unexpected place (this program of activities and other workshops will begin on September 6).
Among the confirmed participants is the winner of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science (2015) Diego Golombek, charismatic Argentine biologist, communicator and scientific disseminator. He will be joined by Bardo Científico, a group of Uruguayan stand-up comedians, presenting their show “Feminiciencias: women and sciences” and Química d+, a program of activities aimed at children and adolescents. Featured creatives and Argentina's innovative Poper Científico Stand Up initiative will also be present.
The objective is to connect, dialogue, debate, combine interests towards a common regional path for science and innovation. The enormous challenges of our time, framed in the 2030 Development Agenda, require the interdisciplinary and multisectoral collaboration of the entire Latin American and Caribbean society. Public involvement in the search and discovery of new scientific knowledge is essential for sustainable development.