Pilot version of India-UK Science and Technology Partnership dashboard unveiled

A pilot version of India-United Kingdom Science and Technology Partnership (IN-UK-STP) dashboard was unveiled by Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to India, Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, and the National Technology Advisor to the United Kingdom, David Warren Smith, at Bharat Mandapam here.

The meeting was joined by Scientific Secretary of the Office of PSA Parvinder Maini and senior officials of Indian Department of Science and Technology, Office of PSA, UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the British High Commission in India.

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“The pilot version of the IN-UK-STP dashboard, jointly developed by the Office of PSA and the British High Commission in India, covers 143 bilateral projects jointly supported and implemented by various stakeholders from India and UK, from 2018 onwards,” Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI said on Tuesday.

The dashboard, unveiled on November 4, maps the projects in terms of funding value, implementing partners and funding agencies from both sides.

The project mapping is also done with respect to the India-UK Science and Innovation Council (SIC) goals, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and broad areas of technology cooperation to understand the strategic alignment and synergy with the high-level bilateral priorities.

In the welcome remarks, Scientific Secretary Dr. Parvinder Maini highlighted the conceptualisation of the IN-UK-STP dashboard initiative as an evidence and policy tool.

She emphasised the successful partnership with various ministries and departments of the Government of India and the Government of the UK as a catalytic force to get this initiative progressed in the right direction.

PSA Prof. Sood, in his remarks, mentioned that various recent milestones in the bilateral partnerships, including the India-UK Technology Security (TSI) initiative and the bilateral trade agreement, will have a lot of complimenting strength and insights drawn from this dashboard.

PSA also emphasised that the dashboard could help decision makers from both sides in terms of synergising priorities, identifying gaps, and capturing the direction in which the partnership is further evolving to create a lasting impact in both our societies.

UK NTA Dr. Smith acknowledged the efforts that have gone into capturing the depth of India-UK S&T partnerships through this dashboard initiative. Dr. David noted that the insights and analytics emerging from the dashboard would help in shaping the recently announced India-UK Research and Innovation Corridor (RIC).

As a way forward, the recommendations which were identified during the discussions include that the dashboard should comprehensively incorporate key output and impact metrics, including publications, patents, human resource development, startups, and private-sector partnerships.

Additionally, it must evolve further with timely data inputs from all relevant stakeholders on both sides to provide real-time insights for decision-makers as well as the larger scientific ecosystems of both countries.