THE SCIENCE-CENTRIC STATE POLICY: A NECESSARY AND EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR IMPROVING LIVING CONDITIONS IN UKRAINE
B.A. MALITSKY
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5312-6828
Dobrov Institute for Scientific and Technological Potential and Science History Studies of the NAS of Ukraine
Nauka naukozn. 2023, 1(119): 18—34
https://doi.org/10.15407/sofs2023.01.018
Section: Science of Ukraine in the context of contemporary challenges and threats: problems and priorities of development (summaries and scientific reports of the international symposium)
Language: Ukrainian
Abstract: Long-term global problems and threats with adverse effects for the science system performance are elaborated on, with stressing that Ukraine would not be able to face them in an adequate manner unless the cardinal changes taking place in the domestic science system throughout the latest period of its history are accounted for. It is shown that the transformations of the science system inherited by Ukraine from the Soviet Union occurred in the three main dimensions: financial, legal & administrative and thematic & methodological, whereas other factors with adverse effects on the national science system performance were the legal & administrative uncertainty of its strategic objectives and the narrowing of administrative rights of the Academy science. It is observed that because reforms in the Ukrainian economy followed the distributive and commodity-based model rather than the reproductive and high-tech-based one, The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine lost the possibility of implementing its own innovative products, which narrowed its financing sources. A methodological immaturity of social sciences and humanities in Ukraine gave an excuse to power officials for inviting foreign experts-reformists, quite often not very competent. Still other factors aggravating the performance of science system in Ukraine were geopolitical uncertainty of the state and high scales of corruption. Results of erroneous political reforms in the science & technology sector are demonstrated by a comparison of the dynamics of the population, per capita GDP and R&D intensity of GDP in Ukraine, Poland and Turkey throughout 1980—2020. The author’s analysis allowed for justifying the urgent necessity in setting up and effective implementation of the science-centric state policy that is based on mechanisms for employing science as a principal source of the economic growth, social advancement and national security. To answer the question on what should Ukraine do to have this policy implemented, nineteen actions are proposed, pertaining to political administration of the science system, accelerated development of the industrial segment of science, technology and innovation, bringing the professional education system in conformity with the requirements of the innovation-driven economy and the knowledge-based society, the increasing role of the NAS of Ukraine within the bodies charged with the science system administration, adoption of European standards in R&D financing from all the sources, optimization of the ratio between the expenditures on R&D and other activities, problems related to protection, accounting and use of intellectual property.
Keywords: science-centric state policy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ministry for Education and Science of Ukraine, science and technology development, gross domestic product, R&D expenditures, national security, reforms.
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