With the objective of updating the discussion agenda of science and technology indicators in Latin America, on October 10 and 11, the XIII Meeting of the Technical Committee of the Network of Science and Technology Indicators took place in the city of Asunción, Paraguay. Technology -Iberoamericana e Interamericana- (RICYT). This group is made up of those responsible for the production of science, technology and innovation indicators in the national science and technology organizations of the region, and meets annually to seek common solutions for the production of statistics.

The event was organized jointly by RICYT, the Ibero-American Observatory of Science, Technology and Society (OCTS-OEI) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Paraguay, and took place in the Union building Paraguayan Industrial (UIP). The XIII Meeting was attended by representatives of 17 Ibero-American countries, together with experts from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Institute of Statistics of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UIS-UNESCO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It also had the support of the Junta de Andalucía.

Throughout the two days, an intense technical debate was held on how to improve the quality of science, technology and innovation statistics, with a focus on regional and international comparability.

During the first day, work was done on innovation indicators. In the morning experiences were shared on the adaptation of the local questionnaires to the latest recommendations of the Oslo Manual. In the afternoon, proposals were presented for the comparability of the data within the region and at the end of the day there was talk about the measurement of innovation in sectors other than the manufacturing industry. As a result, it was agreed to review the availability of innovation data for each country, and to advance on a set of comparable indicators that can be updated regularly.

On the morning of the second day, the availability of R&D information was reviewed. The comparability of the indicators collected annually in the surveys of each country was discussed. In recent years, indicators suggested by the Frascati Manual (version 2015) have been incorporated, although they have had different levels of response. New indicators for scientific and technological activities have also been incorporated, especially scientific and technical services, applying a series of definitions and recommendations agreed with UIS-UNESCO.

For next year it was agreed to analyze the response capacity of the countries before including new indicators in the survey. For example, the interest of some countries in having comparable information on tax incentives and external R&D personnel was highlighted. The afternoon of the second day was dedicated to the demand and use of indicators, with presentations that focused on the problem of generating information products more adjusted to the demands of specific audiences.

Before the closing of the meeting, it was agreed that the next meeting will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, in conjunction with the DGEEC and within the framework of the XI Ibero-American Congress of Science and Technology Indicators to be held in September 2020. For 2021, meanwhile , the proposal was received from CONCYTEC of Peru to host the next meeting of the RICYT Technical Committee.

With the aim of updating the discussion agenda of science and technology indicators in Latin America, on November 13 and 14, the XII Meeting of the RICYT Technical Committee took place in the city of Buenos Aires. This group is made up of those responsible for the production of science, technology and innovation indicators in the national science and technology organizations of the region and meets annually to seek common solutions for the production of statistics.

The XII Meeting had representatives from fifteen Ibero-American countries, together with experts from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Institute of Statistics of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UIS-UNESCO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada. Throughout the two days a technical debate was held on how to improve the quality of science, technology and innovation statistics, with a focus on regional and international comparability.

The event was jointly organized by RICYT, the Ibero-American Observatory of Science, Technology and Society (OCTS-OEI) and the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina. It took place at the Center for Higher University Studies of the Organization of Ibero-American States (CAEU-OEI) with the support of UIS-UNESCO and the IDB.

The topics discussed

The first session focused on the novelties of the recently published 4th Revision of the Oslo Manual. The presentation was given by Fernando Galindo Rueda, head of science, technology and innovation indicators at the OECD, who examined the most important changes in this new version of the manual for measuring innovation.

A table was then offered for debate on different methodologies for measuring innovation. This roundtable included studies on the collection of indicators on green innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as different measurement experiences in the manufacturing, services and agriculture sectors.

Under the title “Harmonization of indicators of scientific and technological activities”, members of the RICYT technical team shared a comparative analysis of ACT indicators that were reported to the Network during the last year. This presentation was joined by the experiences of UIS-UNESCO, based on a global consultation on the measurement methodology of scientific and technological services, and of the MECCyT, after the application of a new module in the survey that the institution conducts annually in Argentina.

During the session dedicated to the presentation of data and new forms of visualization, different virtual platforms were disseminated, among them the latest news regarding the RICYT platform, the ICONO portal (of the Spanish FECYT) and the platform “Science in figures ”From COLCIENCIAS. The last debates of the day had to do with the measurement of the contribution of science and technology to the monitoring of sustainable development objectives, by UIS-UNESCO, and with the improvement of statistics at the regional level, with a presentation of the Ministry of Economy of Chile.

The second working day began with the presentation of initiatives carried out by international organizations in the field of indicators and policy evaluation in science, technology and innovation. The harmonized microdata base of innovation surveys in Latin America developed by the IDB was described; the RQ + approach carried out by IDRC was introduced to take into account the values ​​and context of innovation activities; and the OECD mechanisms for measuring tax incentives for R&D were presented.

Finally, the measurement of gender issues in science and technology was discussed. The RICYT broke down the results of the micro-survey of availability and priorities in gender indicators, while experts from the Colombian Observatory of Science and Technology and the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) commented on the experiences of their respective countries in the I work with indicators of this type.

The meeting culminated with the presentation of the work plan for next year. In 2019 the group will meet again in the city of Asunción, thanks to the offer of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Paraguay.

With debates that allowed updating the discussion agenda of science and technology indicators in Latin America, the 10th Ibero-American Congress of Science and Technology Indicators was held in San José, Costa Rica. More than 200 people from 20 countries participated, including representatives of National Organizations of Science and Technology (ONCYT), experts, representatives of international organizations and local authorities.

The opening was attended by the Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Mrs. Ana Helena Chacón, who highlighted the importance of science and technology for the development of the countries and pointed out the importance of having well-designed and coordinated policies. , for which the indicators are a fundamental tool. The minister of science, technology and telecommunications, Carolina Vásquez Soto; the chief of operations of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Costa Rica, Kelvin Suero; and the coordinator of the Ibero-American Network of Science and Technology Indicators (RICYT), Rodolfo Barrere.

The Congress was held between November 20 and 22, 2017 and was jointly organized by RICYT, the Ibero-American Observatory of Science, Technology and Society of the OEI and the MICITT of Costa Rica. It was sponsored by the IDB and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

The main discussions

The discussion of the indicators to measure the gender gap in science and technology played an important role in the Congress. After the presentation of the gender equality policy in Costa Rica, there was a debate on the most appropriate indicators to analyze the issue. In a session moderated by Evelyn Cermeño Vargas, director of the OEI office in Costa Rica, the results of the projects “Gender gap in science, technology and innovation” of the IDB and Science and Gender Advancement (SAGA) of UNESCO were presented. together with the experiences of countries in the region.

The debate on the indicators of the university’s link with the socioeconomic environment also had a relevant space, in which the latest manual published by the RICYT and the OCTS was presented, in addition to the results of the pilot test of the methodology in six universities Ibero-American. For more information about this initiative, follow this link.

The measurement of innovation is a topic of great interest both regionally and globally. The challenges of the revision of the Oslo Manual being carried out by the OECD, and its implications for Latin America, were discussed in a session attended by representatives of the RICYT, the OECD, UNESCO and the IDB. The presentations led to an intense exchange between the panelists and the audience.

Another session that aroused great interest was the one dedicated to the interaction between producers and users of information. In it, the different modes of access to data offered by information-producing organizations were presented, in a context of increasing openness of microdata and where users have more technological processing and analysis tools. Trust in information producers was also discussed as a critical issue that must be carefully considered to support national statistics. With interesting interventions from the public, the debate addressed the importance not only of producing reliable indicators, but also communicating them in appropriate ways to different interested audiences.

In addition, over the three days of the meeting, more than 60 papers were presented, in 16 thematic sessions. The last afternoon of the Congress included the presentation of the latest edition of the Costa Rican science and technology indicators, made by the minister responsible for the area, Carolina Vásquez Soto, and with a conference by the minister of economy, industry and commerce, Geannina Dinarte Romero.

Download Agenda, papers and presentations

XI RICYT Technical Committee Meeting

After the closing of the Congress, the Technical Committee of the RICYT met in Costa Rica on November 23. This group is made up of those responsible for the production of science, technology and innovation indicators in the ONCYT of the region and meets annually to seek common solutions for the production of statistics.

With representatives from 20 Ibero-American countries and the IDB, UNESCO and the OECD, a technical debate was held throughout the day with the aim of improving the quality of science and technology statistics, while gaining in regional and international comparability.

The topics addressed included the implementation in Latin America of the latest version of the OECD Frascati Manual and the UIS-UNESCO proposal for the measurement of scientific and technological services.

The meeting culminated in a work plan for next year that included, among other topics, the formation of a working group for the analysis and sharing of communication and visualization techniques for the statistical information produced by the Ibero-American countries.