"We Need More Doable and Actionable Science Policies"

 by Professor Dato Dr Ahmad Ibrahim, Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, UCSI University

TODAY’S world is very much influenced by science. Just pick any issue that now confronts the world. We will see that science is always at the centre. Climate change has become an issue because science provides the evidence on global warming and carbon emission rising. The shape of world commerce has been transformed because of the advances in the internet and cyber sciences. Infectious diseases can be better spotted through science, and science also provides the answer on prevention and therapy. We saw this during the covid pandemic. Even industrial development is now very much dictated by the science of automation and innovation. In other word, the world must invest in science. This explains why all development policies and plans of countries around the world are rooted in science, as the strategic weapon for sustained progress. Without the advancement in science, the world will be at a loss navigating the future and ensuring its sustainability. We are no exception.

As a country, we have introduced many policies on science. The latest that have hit the launch pads include policies on Industry4.0, Digital Economy policy, Bioeconomy policy, Smart City, STEM and many more. Soon there will be many more in the pipeline. These include policies on hydrogen economy, blue economy, artificial intelligence, just to name some. There is no denying that all such policies went through very rigorous stakeholders engagement and many so called focus group discussions, before they were finalised for adoption. It is also true that many have cried foul on the implementation of such policies. The truth is there is always a lot of fanfare in the launching of the policies. But the almost silence after the launching has been disturbing. We seldom hear reports of progress and whether the plans have even been acted upon. This is very worrying because much efforts and costs have gone in designing the policies. Failure to effectively implement is even more costly for the country.

Many are now asking whether in drafting such policies much thought has been given as to whether they are practical. Can we practice what the policies preach? Do the target groups which have been identified to take actions truly understand the policies in the first place? Have the policies been effectively communicated to the target groups? Have we considered whether they have sufficient capacity to deliver? Do they have sufficient resources? Take the smart city framework which was launched three years ago. Apparently, the main target groups are the local authorities. Kuala Lumpur city has declared their blueprint on low carbon, for example. But most others are rather quiet. In fact, we do not see the issue of wastes improving at all. One key component of smart city is smart wastes. The recommendation is to deploy digital approaches to reduce sending wastes to the landfills. To date, many doubt that this is happening. In fact landfills everywhere are bursting at the seams. There seems to be no let up in the carbon emissions.

Some studies have been undertaken to scrutinise the policies that have been launched. Many have reached the conclusions that much of the policies are not action oriented. There have been too much focus on theories rather than the practical aspects. Very little thought has been given to the practicability of the eventual action plans. Many realise the need for close collaboration and sharing among stakeholders, including ministries, in delivering the many science policies. And many are also aware of the fact that operating in silos has been common among such implementing entities. Unfortunately, the matter has not been fully addressed when drafting the policies. There have been too much focus on the what and why, instead of also thinking about the how. Few would deny that the HOW is the part that matters most.

It is time we rethink the way we introduce science policies to the country. It is time we pay more attention to the how, especially the many challenges and obstacles that stand in the path of implementation. Unless the how part is better resolved, we may end up with policies which are well crafted but face problems delivering.