PM to launch gamechanger National Science Foundation global digital platform on Monday

There are nearly three million Sri Lankan expatriates and emigrants in the world, including an appreciable number of reputed scientists and professionals holding senior positions in academia, R&D institutions and industry.

They undoubtedly constitute a formidable potential asset of Sri Lanka which has hitherto been almost untapped and untouched for national development. In fact, there are many Sri Lankan expatriates who are keen to contribute to the development of the motherland and there have been previous attempts to harness this potential for national development. However, the lack of a credible and pragmatic mechanism has hindered such contribution, whereas countries such as China, India and Taiwan have derived remarkable benefits by harnessing expatriates for national development.

According to UNESCO (2021), the number (full-time equivalent) of R&D personnel per million people is only 106 in Sri Lanka as against 253 in India, 336 in Pakistan, 2,397 in Malaysia, 7,980 in Korea and 8,250 in Israel. As regards knowledge-based high-tech exports, Sri Lanka again accounts for only about 1% of the total exports as opposed to 9% in India, 23% in Thailand, 31% in China, 40% in Vietnam and 53% in Malaysia (World Bank, 2017/18). In the circumstances, Sri Lankan expatriates can potentially make a significant contribution to enhance the performance of the S&T sector in Sri Lanka through strengthening R&D.

Therefore, the National Science Foundation (NSF) embarked upon constructing an instrument with technical support from the SLASSCOM to harness this potential, and a state-of-the-art global digital platform with the requisite capabilities and features to mobilise the expatriates for national development has now been developed. 

This Global Digital Platform (GDP) will be launched on 21 February, at the BMICH at 9:00 hours under the distinguished patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and this momentous occasion will be attended by University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, SLASSCOM Chairperson Sandra De Soyza, Vice Chancellors and Chairpersons and CEOs of public and private sector institutions. 

This event will bring together a constellation of outstanding sons and daughters of our motherland from home and abroad onto the digital platform for a lofty and laudable cause in keeping with the Government’s vision to bring splendour and prosperity to our country.

Practically every sector of the economy including higher education, S&T, FDI, trade/exports, tourism and industry can potentially benefit from it. It has manifold applications and can even be used to harvest “global waters” when calling for applications for high-profile positions such as Chairman/UGC, Vice-Chancellor and Director General of the Board of Investment, to name a few. The digital platform can also be transformed into a new business model, especially to provide technology, know-how and show-how to industry for industrial growth. This, besides strengthening the corporate and SME sectors of the country, can generate revenue for the NSF thereby reducing its reliance and burden on the public coffers.

The GDP of the NSF will facilitate effective harnessing, mobilising and channelling intellectual assets at home and abroad – the most precious and treasured resource in a knowledge economy –– for development. This will enable us to address and resolve high-priority national needs and concerns while making the most of the opportunities and natural resources available in order to transform Sri Lanka into a developed nation. Therefore, this event undoubtedly signifies an important landmark in the 54-year-long journey of the NSF in particular and the S&T sector in general.

Presently, around 900 expatriate scientists, technologists and professionals have registered with the GDP from around the globe and six top-flight scientists and technologists of global repute, namely Dr. Bandula Wijay, International S&T Ambassador for Sri Lanka, Houston, USA; Prof. Dilantha Fernando, Dean/Studies, University of Manitoba, Canada; Prof. Shanthi Mendis former Senior Advisor to WHO, Switzerland; Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga, Head, Global Disaster Resilience Centre, University of Huddersfield, UK; Prof. Monte Cassim, President of the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan and Prof. Saman Halgamuge, University of Melbourne, Australia will join the launch online representing the expatriate population to express their views on the potential applications and impact of the GDP.  During the past several months, our expatriates have been constructively engaged with the NSF in a wide array of programs, ranging from enhancing S&T to building the capacity of academia. With the launch of the digital platform, the scope, diversity, frequency and scale of such programs will be greatly enhanced, potentially impacting many sectors of the economy.

Another salient feature of the event is the participation of the top 2% of the global scientific fraternity in Sri Lanka at this event. They are the heart and soul of the higher education sector and the gems and jewels in the crown of Sarasavi Matha. They are the most treasured resource of our university system who have set benchmarks of excellence and new standards for our academic and scientific community and the country. 

When we look at the intellectual landscape of our universities, we see relatively few “mountains” in the otherwise rather flat landscape, who have silently, unobtrusively and selflessly contributed greatly to the noble task of advancement of S&T and nation building. The nation and the society have, unfortunately, been insufficiently aware of their worth and they are the unsung academic heroes in our country. However, they continue to fulfil their obligation to the nation even under trying circumstances because of their relentless passion for intellectual work and scholarly pursuits, and their love and affection for the motherland. If we create a more conducive and enabling environment for research in Sri Lanka, I am certain that they will be in the top 1% cohort in the world.

In our country, there are several types of excellence awards schemes at the national level to honour and recognise excellence in athletics, arts, music, literature, cinema and such like. However, there isn’t such a scheme to honour and recognise singular accomplishments in science and technology. Therefore, it is absolutely appropriate that we invited them for this event, thereby symbolically honouring their singular accomplishments in the sphere of S&T. 

Besides, it provides a rare, ideal opportunity to develop an interface between our distinguished scientists at home and abroad which will give birth to a super “biological alloy” with unique vigour in academic, technological and entrepreneurial respects, thereby creating a win-win situation. This will undoubtedly afford a turbo boost to the S&T endeavours in our country. I wish to add that the NSF proposes to establish a high-profile national event jointly with the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLASS) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Sri Lanka to pay a fitting tribute to our top-flight scientists and technologists so that they will no longer be unsung.

Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the species most responsive to change”. This is equally applicable to any institution or country. “If you want to make minor incremental changes or improvements, work on practices, behaviour or attitude. But if you want to make significant quantum improvements, work on paradigms,” said Stephen Covey. The NSF, with a wise, able and far-sighted Board of Management, is quite alive and responsive to this perception, and the digital platform is only one creation emanating from it.

The GDP of the NSF will be a potent catalyst and powerful instrument in raising the GDP of our country. It will be a game changer, signifying a turning point in the S&T trajectory of Sri Lanka.

The NSF with its unwavering commitment to promoting STI, will facilitate and consolidate strategic scientific cooperation and collaboration between the sons and daughters of Sri Lanka Matha at home and abroad through the GDP, thereby charting a new course and blazing a new trail to propel Sri Lanka’s trajectory to become a developed nation by 2035.

The launching ceremony will be livestreamed and can be watched on NSF social media channels (YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NSFSL and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nsflk).

(The writer is the Chairman of National Science Foundation.)