BANTAY GOBYERNO 003-2024 OFFICE OF THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISER

BANTAY GOBYERNO 003-2024

OFFICE OF THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISER

Have you ever wondered how the United States government is able to function without a Department of Science and Technology (DOST)? By logical reasoning, is it not that we should be doing better than them science wise, since we have a DOST and they do not? But without a DOST, how are they able to manage their overall science concerns?

The answer to that is two-pronged. On one hand, they have a National Science Foundation (NSF), and on the other hand, they have an Office of the Science and Technology Adviser (OSTA) at the White House, who is reporting directly to the President of the United States (POTUS), but does not have cabinet rank. The Director and Deputy Director of NSF are appointed by the POTUS, but still have to be confirmed by the United States Senate.

Although it bears the name "Foundation", it is actually an independent agency of the United States government, presumably reporting to no one except the POTUS. However, there is a separate National Science Board (NSB) whose 24 members are also appointed by the POTUS, but do not need Senate confirmation. The NSB functions as the policy making body of the NSF, thus ensuring a system of checks and balances.

The NSF funds about 25% of all federally supported basic research and development that are conducted by the American colleges and universities. Presumably, the other 75% are funded by the private sector. It seems clear enough that the NSF does not fund the internal research of its own scientists, because apparently, they do not conduct their own research, therefore they do not have their own inhouse scientists.

In contrast, our own DOST conducts its own internal research, and it funds its own inhouse scientists. It also seems that our own DOST funds only the research of some State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), seemingly giving nothing to the private universities and colleges. I do not know the actual numbers, but I will not be surprised if the percentage of internally funded research would be greater that the externally funded.

It appears that there is actually a "Not Invented Here" (NIH) syndrome within our own DOST, a culture that discriminates against researches and inventions that are conceptualized and developed outside. Adherents of the NIH syndrome would tend to believe that if any research or invention would be good enough, it would have to come from the inside, otherwise it would not be "good enough".

Since the overall science functions of the Philippine government is now spread out among several agencies, it would be a good idea for the President of the Philippines to create our own OSTA, headed by an adviser who does not really need cabinet rank. As I see it, we have too many Presidential Advisers who carry cabinet ranks, but could not really do anything without operating budgets. The scope of the OSTA should encompass the medical sciences and the information sciences, among others, including artificial intelligence. IKE SENERES/08-03-2024


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