Impact of Covid-19 on Science, Technology & Innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant uncertainty across all aspects of the global economy and society. Likewise, the pandemic’s long term impacts on science, technology and innovation are also substantial. It may also affect the purpose, design and execution of STI policies. Since the onset of the pandemic, demand for a number of health and digital tools and services has increased, while other sectors (e.g. automotive, aerospace) were hit hard, pointing to highly unequal dynamics across sectors. Funding for public universities and research institutions may reduce. The extent of such funding reductions will also depend on the evolution of student intake, philanthropic donations and research contracts in institutions for which those revenues were an important source of income. In countries most severely affected by budget cuts for STI, the risk of brain drain of highly skilled workers. Scientific conferences, training and research collaboration activities may be held virtually. Virtual conferences allow for larger and more diverse audiences than in-person meetings, and reduce transaction costs as well as the carbon footprint incurred by travel. Virtual training tools facilitate access to training for wider audiences and are highly flexible, making training more compatible with work commitments. In this context, increasing digital security and privacy will be critical. Online scams and phishing emails have proliferated, and cybercriminals have launched ransomware attacks against hospitals, research centres and critical infrastructure. The rapid implementation of open science and open data initiatives during the COVID-19 crisis enhance transparency and collaboration, reduce the risk of duplicated research efforts, and foster research and innovation built on the existing research base. In the past two years we have been reminded of the power of scientific innovation to promote and protect health. Yet we have long known that the way we organise medical innovation is far from perfect