The CRUCH Research Commission was invited by the National CTCI Council to provide insights on sustainable productive development

The event highlighted the importance of developing a coordinated national strategy among different actors and with a long-term vision, in which universities have a leading role.

The president of the CRUCH Research Commission, Pedro Bouchon, argued that progress must be made in policy design mechanisms and in understanding what the existing capacities are, as well as in the development of a basic structural fund for CTCI in the university system.

Invited by the National Council of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (CTCI), the Research Commission of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) attended a meeting to discuss the role of CTCI and the challenges and opportunities within the framework of a transition towards sustainable productive development in Chile.

At the meeting, led by the president of the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CTCI), Silvia Díaz, the importance of advancing the development of a national strategy in the field of research, science and technology was highlighted, coordinated between different actors and with a long-term vision.

“A key aspect has to do not only with coordination, which is fundamental, but with the State's capacity to design a long-term strategy that is capable of prevailing over time (…) and that has to be truly substantive, so it will require a lot of political consensus, but at the same time a lot of technical capacity for its design,” commented Pedro Bouchon, president of the CRUCH Research Commission.

In this regard, the president of the CTCI Council, who thanked the Commission for its participation and contributions, affirmed that the CRUCH universities are the main actors in knowledge generation and highly relevant to the CTCI ecosystem. “Through their vice-rectorates of research, development, and innovation, they have much to contribute. This meeting was very fruitful, with many initiatives, many ideas, and many in-depth conversations to address this together,” she noted.

Bouchon, Vice-Rector of Research at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, emphasized the role that the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) and its member universities can play in developing this strategy. “It is essential to be honest about our current research and development capabilities. Universities possess substantial capabilities that we must be able to leverage (…) but we must also recognize that while some universities have made significant progress, others are in more initial stages, with diverse conditions across different regions,” he stated.

Regarding this, Silvia Díaz emphasized the importance of incorporating regional characteristics into the strategy's formulation. “We need to understand the contribution of each region, because each one is different. This is fundamental to understanding how Chile needs to move towards sustainable productive development and create a better strategy.”.

It should be noted that the National Council for Science, Technology, Innovation, and Cooperatives (CTCI) is an autonomous body that advises the Presidency of the Republic. Its main task is the development and review, with a systemic and long-term perspective, of the National CTCI Strategy for development. This strategy includes a proposed policy for sustainable productive development, which must be submitted to the Government in March 2024.

Proposals from the CRUCH Research Committee

Regarding the diagnosis, the basis for building a long-term sustainable development strategy, Bouchon emphasized that many have already been carried out and that now the focus should be on establishing concrete short-term actions that generate tangible results.

“The diagnosis exists. We have a very weak educational system at the school level, which is expanding at the postgraduate level, but this is not in line with the available resources; in addition to a country that is extremely centralized. So there are a series of critical, real conditions (…) what we have to do now is design policies that allow us to take action,” he emphasized.

In this regard, the UC Vice-Rector for Research highlighted the importance of joint work with the National Council for Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (CTCI) and Parliament, focusing on advancing policy design mechanisms and understanding existing capabilities.

“I think we need to start proposing some mechanisms that will allow us to test things out. In terms of resources, I think it’s also essential to be transparent about the indirect costs of conducting research and really move forward with developing a basic structural fund within the university system so we can take the risk of implementing measures that will allow us to focus our efforts in the future,” Bouchon emphasized.

Text: CRUCH Communications