1st Meeting of G20-Chief Science Advisers Roundtable Organized at Ramnagar, Uttarakhand

G20-CSAR is the flagship event of India's G20 Presidency, and it is coordinated by the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The day-long roundtable featured discussions on topics such as Opportunities in One Health for better disease control and pandemic preparedness; Synergizing Global Efforts to Expand Access to Scholarly Scientific Knowledge; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Science & Technology (S&T); and An Institutional Mechanism for Inclusive, Continuous, and Action-Oriented Global S&T Policy Dialogue.

Pandemic preparedness plans were discussed for flexible, adaptive, and timely responses to pandemics, integrated disease surveillance mechanisms for humans, livestock, and wildlife, R&D roadmap for diseases of One Health importance, and investing in analytics (such as disease modelling, AI/ML tools, and data standards) under the theme Opportunities in One Health for better disease control and pandemic preparedness.

Under the theme Synergizing Global Efforts to Expand Access to Scholarly Scientific Knowledge, members discussed how access should be free, immediate, and universal, how journal subscription and Article Processing Charges should be reduced, how to establish interoperable inter-linking of national repositories with international repositories/archives, and how to have an Open Access mandate to make knowledge outputs of publicly-funded scientific research widely available.

The third subject focused on Science and Technology Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Accessibility (S&T). The participating countries shared their work in increasing access to the scientific enterprise for under-represented, under-privileged, marginalized, minority, and tribal/ aboriginal communities. In the session, the inclusion of Traditional Knowledge Systems (TKS) in formal systems of knowledge was discussed, as well as recognizing the potential of language variety and overcoming barriers in obtaining scientific knowledge.

The fourth session addressed the need for an Institutional Mechanism for Inclusive, Continuous, and Action-Oriented Global Science and Technology Policy Dialogue. It was agreed that scientific advisers play an important role in shaping policy choices by providing evidence-based science advice, and that it is the responsibility of chief science advisers to collaborate and engage in international dialogue to address transboundary issues affecting the entire scientific enterprise so that science and technology can benefit all.

The discussions and interaction on the themes presented today will continue until the next meeting in August 2023, when a Science Policy Communiqué will be produced. Prof Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India; Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India; and Naman Upadhyay, Under Secretary at the G20 Secretariat interacted with the local media following the meeting.