Introduction
This policy brief discusses the effects that the COVID-19 crisis could have on the future of science, technology and innovation (STI) and its policies. Factors shaping the future of STI include the unequal effects of the crisis on research and development (R&D) across sectors, the accelerated adoption of digital tools and techniques, and changes in the openness, inclusiveness and agility of research and innovation ecosystems. STI policy could see fundamental changes as resilience, environmental sustainability and inclusiveness become more prominent objectives on policy agendas. The crisis could also spur experimentation with new tools, policy approaches and governance models.
Possible long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on science, technology and innovation
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant uncertainty across all aspects of the global economy and society. Likewise, the pandemic’s long term impacts on science, technology and innovation are impossible to predict. In this context, it is instructive to explore some of the different (and sometimes contradictory) possible trends for how the pandemic could affect STI in terms of overall spending, digital infrastructure, openness, inclusiveness, and global collaboration..
Challenges ahead for STI spending
Insights from past crises point to two main challenges for future STI spending that could have lasting effects on countries’ innovation performance. The distinctive characteristics of the COVID-19 crisis, however, suggest that dynamics are likely to differ from those following the 2008-09 global financial crisis and vary significantly across countries.
Accelerated adoption of digital technologies and tools for STI
Virtual communication and conferencing tools enabled new forms of research collaboration, knowledge exchange and the provision of training during the pandemic (Paunov and Planes-Satorra, 2021[3]).
The openness and agility of STI systems
The rapid implementation of open science and open data initiatives during the COVID-19 crisis – including platforms to share research data, open access to COVID-19-related publications, and the early dissemination of research manuscripts as preprints – may prove to be a catalyst for the wider adoption of open science across all scientific research fields (OECD, 2020[9]). These practices enhance transparency and collaboration, reduce the risk of duplicated research efforts, and foster research and innovation built on the existing research base.
The inclusiveness of STI systems
The COVID-19 crisis creates opportunities and challenges for the social inclusiveness of STI systems – defined as the extent to which individuals, independent of their socio-economic background, gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or place of residence, have the capacity and opportunity to participate in R&D and innovation activities, and to benefit from R&D and innovation.
The global nature of STI systems
The COVID-19 crisis has both challenged international collaboration and demonstrated its importance in tackling global challenges. Going forward, opportunities and policy support for international co-operation may be reinforced in an effort to optimise an efficient global STI system that benefits from national specialisations and capacities, especially in the health field. For instance, emphasis may be placed on building strong international platforms to share data about infectious diseases, launch international funding schemes for research and development of vaccines and treatments for emerging diseases, or establish a global disease prevention and control system.
Possible changes in future STI policy objectives
The COVID-19 crisis may change the role of STI policy in the recovery, as countries seek to “build back better”. If resilience, environmental sustainability and inclusiveness emerge as core objectives on policy agendas, STI policy could play a significantly different role than it has in previous decades, when it was primarily evaluated according to its contributions to productivity and competiveness for long-term growth. The recent expansion of mission-oriented research and innovation policies (MOIP) already signals a policy shift towards increased directionality of STI policies – a trend that may be reinforced after the COVID-19 crisis (Larrue, 2021[15]).
References
• World Health Organization (2020)
• Nature Journal – Global Science in Crisis (2021)
• UNESCO Science Report (2022)