"Presidential Science Advisory Offices Needed"

Calestous Juma, Business Daily (Nairobi) via Harvard's Kennedy School of Government website, June 8, 2007.

"The rising interest among African countries in strengthening the role of science and innovation in development demands strong advisory institutions that serve different sections of government. So far only a handful of African countries have experimented with presidential advisory systems.....The best way forward is to start setting up Science and Innovation Offices in key executive offices and promoting interactions between such offices."

Comment: I agree fully! Science policy needs the inputs of professional societies, academies, and the executive and legislative branches of government. I love to see donor agencies supporting the development of science and innovation policy capacity in Africa. I think organizations such as the InterAcademy Council can help with the academies, and organizations such as the AAAS with their professional society counterparts. There is a network of science advisors in the Americas, and a comparable body might help in Africa. The OECD provides a useful function supporting networking of science policy experts of developed countries. JAD