India wants to double the number of its scientific publication and quadruple the number of papers in the top journals from current levels by 2020, according to a new policy document released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
One of the objectives of the policy is to increase its share of scientific publications from the current 3.5 % to over 7 % and quadruple the number of papers in the top 1% journals from current levels by 2020.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013, released by the Prime Minister at the 100th Indian Science Congress which began in Kolkata today, wants to position India as one among the top 5 scientific powers in the world.
Citation impact of Indian publications must improve and match at least the global averages, said the document.
The full policy document is here(pdf).
Some of the focus points of the policy
- Facilitating private sector investment in R&D centres in India and overseas.
- Permitting multi stakeholders participation in the Indian R&D system.
- Treating R&D in the private sector at par with public institutions for availing public funds.
- Bench marking of R&D funding mechanisms and patterns globally.
- Aligning Venture Capital and Inclusion Innovation Fund systems.
- Modifying Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy to provide for marching rights for social good when supported by public funds and for co-sharing IPRs generated under public private partnership.
To repeat a cliche- policies are fine but at the ground level, little has changed. We recently wrote about how Indian scientists wanting to return to the country are finding it difficult to cut through the red tape and find a job in government run research organizations. The private sector is busy with outsourced R&D.
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