Saturday 9 December 2017

What Role for Social Sciences in Innovation? Re-Assessing How Scientific Disciplines Contribute to Different Industries | OECD STI Policy Paper

What Role for Social Sciences in Innovation? Re-Assessing How Scientific Disciplines Contribute to Different Industries 
by Caroline Paunov, Sandra Planes-Satorra, Tadanori Moriguchi; OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Paper No. 45, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/8a306011-en

Abstract: Knowledge transfer between industry and science is fundamental to innovation. There are important differences across scientific disciplines and sectors of activity in that, for instance, the financial and pharmaceutical sectors have different demands for science inputs. This paper reviews the data sources and associated methodologies available to measure different types of science-industry interaction. It applies these insights to re-assess the contributions of social sciences to industry and the disciplinary needs of the ICT sector. The paper finds that commonly used methodologies fail to shed light on a number of important industry-science interaction channels, and introduce biases in assessing connections. Using new evidence from labour force and university graduate surveys can help to some extent. The paper shows how these additional data allow to better capture the contributions of social scientists and the complexity of disciplinary demands of the digital economy. However, new data sources and methods should be further explored.

Keywords: Review of data sources and associated methodologies, knowledge transfer, innovation, social sciences, industry sectors, Science-industry linkages, academic disciplines, information and communication technologies (ICT)



Wednesday 6 December 2017

A Brief History of Tuberculosis Control in India | by WHO, 2010

A Brief History of Tuberculosis Control in India.
by World Health Organization, 2010, ISBN 9789241500159. «WHO/HTM/TB/2010.4»

Summary: This report was prepared as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to review the history of tuberculosis (TB) control in India, to assess the impact of the TB programme on the epidemiology of tuberculosis in India, and to outline directions for future progress.
In 2006, the population of India was 1.1 billion or 17% of the world's population. The country is divided into 35 states and union territories (UTs) which are subdivided into over 600 districts (1, 2). India has 299 people living with TB per 100 000 population or 3.4 million prevalent cases (1). Every year, 2 million people develop TB and 331 000 die due to TB (1).
The National TB Programme (NTP) was launched by the Government of India in 1961. In order to deal with some of the shortcomings of the NTP highlighted by the 1992 Joint Review by the Government of India, the Swedish International Development Agency and WHO, the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) was established in 1993 and the new programme, based on DOTS – the internationally-recommended strategy to control TB, was launched in 1997 (3).
The RNTCP included flexible funding mechanisms, decentralization, an ensured supply of quality-assured drugs at all times, better supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and technical support via a country-wide network of consultants. By 2006, the whole country was covered under the RNTCP, and case detection and treatment success rates had improved significantly.
The challenge is now to sustain the existing DOTS-based programme while introducing all components of the new Stop TB strategy, including services to address TB/HIV, treatment for multidrug-resistant TB, strengthening laboratory services, and integrating TB services in all health facilities of both the public and private health-care sectors. The effectiveness of the TB control programme is likely to increase further with the focussed efforts being undertaken by the Government of India in strengthening the primary health-care system under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
An estimated 2.5 million adults, or 0.4% of the adult population, are infected with HIV (4), but rates of infection are higher in four southern states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, and within these states the distribution of infection is uneven (5). In a community-based prevalence survey in 15 districts, the prevalence of HIV among TB cases ranged from 1% to 14% (6). Although the HIV epidemic in India appears to have stabilized, HIV-associated TB continues to be an important challenge (7).
Based largely on a survey in Gujarat (8), 3.9% (4.9−6.2%; ranges are 95% confidence limits unless otherwise stated) of all TB cases have multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), giving over 130 000 new cases every year (9). To manage MDR-TB will require a substantial increase in diagnostic and treatment capacity. 
India has reached the target treatment success rate of 85% and the target case detection rate of 70%. Over the next few years, routine notification data supplemented by prevalence surveys may be used to determine the impact of TB control. 
India is in a position to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 and Stop TB Partnership targets by 2015 but this will require increases in funding and human resources, more intensive engagement with all health-care providers and strengthened regulation of anti-TB drugs.

Table of Contents
1. TB control before 1993
2. The Indian health-care system
3. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP)
4. Scaling up DOTS: 1998–2006
5. The Stop TB Strategy 2006–2008
6. The way forward: 2009–2015
7. Health systems
8. Conclusion

Monday 4 December 2017

New Book | Science Diplomacy: India and the World, Global Science Cooperation Opportunities | by Dr Pawan Sikka

New Book
Science Diplomacy: India and the World, Global Science Cooperation Opportunities
edited by Pawan Sikka, 2017, Synergy Books India, ISBN 9789382059752. 

About the Book
Science Diplomacy, in the age of the accelerating science and technology is increasingly becoming a central element of the foreign policy and a soft power. This book, Science Diplomacy: India and the World: Global Science Cooperation Opportunities, points out that science is now becoming even more critical in the complex international relations while addressing global challenges such as Climate Change, Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Natural Catastrophize, Diseases and Disaster Mitigation etc. It Covers: Science, Technology & Innovation in India; National Policy of India on International Science Cooperation; India's Engagement with the World; Science Diplomacy and Diplomacy for Science; Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement; lndo-US Nuclear Energy Deal; FDI and technology transfer; Make in India and Intellectual Property Rights etc. India should create a crop of Science-Diplomats in foreign service to get advantage of the World Science. It is a FIRST book of its kind and is a useful one for the science policy-planners, researchers and readers and students of political science, International relations, foreign affairs etc. A must for the libraries in India and abroad. 

About the Author
Dr. Pawan Sikka (b. 1944) is a former Scientist-G, Advisor, Government of India, Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology) New Delhi. Prior to it as Director (International Relations) for about 7-8 years, he coordinated the Bilateral and Multi-lateral programmes of Iwo international cooperation towards extending the frontiers of new and emerging fields in science and technology. He was Leader of the Indian delegation to SAARC Group Meeting on Science and Technology at Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1995. He has received his M.Sc., Ph.D. as well as, D.Sc. degrees in Physics. He is recipient of the Commonwealth Visiting Fellowship (1984-85), at the University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K for carrying out Science & Technology Policy and Society and Government related studies, to shape the national and international development agenda. He also received Italian, Sweden, Switzerland, UNESCO, etc. scholarships for understanding the progress of science, technology and industry there. He is a well-read author and widely travelled in India and abroad. He has also delivered special lectures on Science Policy related issues to the M.Phil. and Ph.D. students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a Life-Member of the: Materials Research Society of India, Semi-Conductor Society of India, Association of British Scholars (British Council, New Delhi), and Oxford and Cambridge Society of India.