In the age of austerity, governments have limited resources to invest in new areas of research – like clean energy – that have multiple risks. Billionaires like Bill Gates can help plug the gap.
In the lead up to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s much anticipated innovation statement, Anthony Arundel highlights the need for the business sector to widen its perspective on innovation.
Prime Minister Turnbull has signalled a desire to move away from a ‘publish or perish’ academic culture toward one that prioritises public impact and engagement. It’s a challenge scholars should embrace.
Publicly-funded research should contribute to society in some way. But we need to think carefully about how we create a system that allows us to measure the impact of research.
Big data is about processing large amounts of data. It is often associated with multiplicities of data. But the ability to generate data outpaces the ability to store it.
Virtually every researcher relies on computers to collect or analyze data. But when computers are opaque black boxes that manipulate data, it’s impossible to replicate studies – a core value for science.
Funding for South African higher education is inadequate considering past inequalities. Even more alarming is the fact that plans for research development and innovation in science remain elusive.
The media constantly bombards us with the latest research on a plethora of topics without much nuance on its quality or relevance. So how can we trust science if it can’t seem to make up its own mind?
South Africans’ access to important knowledge and research is incredibly limited. In this time of Open Access, why is this the case – and will it ever change?
Research institutions don’t have a monopoly on innovation. In fact, most innovation comes out of business, and it’s this sector that needs more attention in innovation policy.
Patrick Howe, California Polytechnic State University
Many readers can’t tell the difference between native ads and editorial content. So will a web publisher’s credibility take a hit if it ‘goes native’ with its ad strategy?
Policies at universities and in research institutions can be changed in small and significant ways to boost the space for gender equity within the sciences.
If the continent is to grasp the science and technology revolution, then governments should take the lead in both policy formulation and implementation.
Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria