Compare between STP 2003 and STIP 2013
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Science and Technology Policy (STP 2003)
By the turn of the millennium, India had established a sound infrastructure base in science and technology in terms of institutions and human resources. However, it was acknowledged that there were dramatic changes in how science was practised, how technology was developed, how science and technology interact and how they affected society. Science was becoming more multidisciplinary, spanning different sectors and different countries. Thus, it required the development of clusters of institutions and multinational collaboration. High investments in R&D were required even in areas of basic research.
A significant feature of STP2003 was a process to develop mechanisms within ministries and agencies to gather inputs from scientists and technologists vis-a-vis planning and policymaking and a call to invest heavily into the R&D sector with an aim of increasing investment to 2% of GDP. STP2003 recognised the need to modernise existing infrastructure for science and engineering in academic institutions and set up new funding mechanisms for basic research. The policy also called for the development of incentive mechanisms to attract scientists and engineers especially of Indian origin from abroad to contribute to the Indian STI ecosystem.
STP2003 was aimed at encouraging R&D and innovation in areas that impact the economy and society, and developing mechanisms to facilitate interaction among various stakeholders within the ecosystem. Finally, STP2003 called for cross-pollination of industry and scientific research, and the establishment of intellectual rights regimes to protect and incentivise inventors. It also encouraged research in management and mitigation of natural hazards. This policy document laid special emphasis on science diplomacy, especially on international science and technological cooperation between developing countries located in the global south.
Post-2003, there was a significant rise in overall R&D investment (raise in both public as well as private investment). At the end of the 10 year period after the adoption of the mandate of STP2003, even though R&D investment did not reach 2% of national GDP as was called for by the mandate, it was at a globally benchmarked figure of 0.7 % of GDP. India made a significant jump in publication rankings. There was also a steady increase in human capacity. We started churning out many more PhD students, more patents were filed, and more startups incubated.
Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2013)
The decade of 2010 to 2020 was declared as a decade of innovation by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was acknowledged that in order to stay globally competitive, it was necessary to make a transition into a knowledge-based economy.
There was a need to synergise science, technology and innovation to position India amongst the top five global scientific powers. With this objective, the fourth policy, the STIP2013 was implemented.