ECOSF Participated in a webinar on Science Communication organized by COMSTECH
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COMSTECH organized a webinar on Science Communication: An Obligation beyond R&D on 24 August 2020 to discuss the impact of democratising science for science and society. Guest speaker of the webinar was Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Global Coordinator, International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA). Dr. Arujanan also serves as the Executive Director, Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Chaudhary formally opened the webinar by highlighting the critical role of Science Communication especially for the developing countries. President ECOSF Prof. Manzoor Hussain Soomro and Engr. Khalil Raza participated in the webinar on behalf of the ECOSF.
The objective of the webinar was to sensitise the audience on principles of science communication and discussed the positive and significant impact brought by science communication to the public and the advancement of science and researchers’ scientific career.
Dr. Maha highlighted the significance of effective science communication around the world. She said that the developing countries around the world need to strengthen their efforts in R&D and charging ahead with their own STI strategies and goals. She underlined that a lot of investment is going into R&D, infrastructure, talent development, and policies and regulations; however there is one area that remains in the backburner or non-existent that is Science Communication.
Dr. Maha said that science communication holds great significance for society at large. It plays a crucial role of democratising science; or science literacy among the public. It is an important process that should go hand-in-hand with R&D initiatives, she emphasized. She further said that advancement in science is often intervened by pseudoscience, fake news, ignorance and non-functioning policies and regulations. She concluded that researchers are adequately engaged to widen the impact of science communication and therefore, skills would be needed to engage stakeholders outside their expertise.