Cristina Uriarte presents in "Passion for Knowledge" how to face the future of the Basque Country through Research and Innovation

• The Basque Government's Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation participates in the International Science Festival organized by DIPC, in Donostia
• Science has been a basic element for progress in the Basque Country along with people, infrastructures, institutional support and socialisation
• To face the future, policy continuity, public-private collaboration and the commitment to continuous investment are key 

The Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cristina Uriarte, participated this afternoon in the 5th edition of the International Science Festival Passion for Knowledge organised by Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), the research centre of excellence.

The Commissioner presented her paper entitled “Facing the future of the Basque Country: the transformative path of Research and Innovation”, at the Victoria Eugenia theatre in Donostia – San Sebastián, while the festival is taking place from 2 to 7 October in Donostia and in other locations in the Basque Country.

The aim of Passion for Knowledge is to promote science as a key cultural activity to contribute to the well-being of future generations and to highlight knowledge as an engine of scientific, technological and cultural progress. The festival has the participation of prestigious international scientists who have been protagonists of some of the most relevant discoveries of the last decades, which have managed to expand the frontiers of knowledge and contribute to the progress and well-being of society as a whole.

Science has been a basic element for progress in the Basque Country along with people, infrastructures, institutional support and socialisation.

The representative of the Basque Government has questioned whether we are aware of the decisive role of Science in progress. We live at a time in history when our day-to-day lives are completely determined by scientific and technological advances, which evolved exponentially in the twentieth century. But also in a society in which strong currents of opinion are generated, which spread quickly and often without a solid foundation.

Science is a long-term path with a vision for the future. In addition to the creation of new knowledge, it is important to communicate it, to promote a scientific culture that allows society to understand scientific progress and the responsibility it implies in progress.

In the Basque Country we build on what was previously built and we do it in collaboration. It is a job, a continuous commitment over time, because we believe in it and we have a dream, a passion for knowledge, for the beauty of Science.

Science has been a basic element for progress in the Basque Country along with people, infrastructures, institutional support and socialisation. All these elements have been present during the last decades and have contributed to the economic and social progress of our country.

After taking an historical tour of the evolution of Science and policies to support R&D&I in the Basque Country, the Commissioner highlighted the strategic commitment maintained over time by the Government in this area, which has had results: in 1981 there was practically no investment in R&D in the Basque Country; in 2001 we invested 619 million euros and in 2022 we invested almost 1.8 billion euros in Research and Development, according to the latest information provided by Eustat (in the last 21 years we have almost tripled our investment in R&D).

To face the future, policy continuity, public-private collaboration and the commitment to continuous investment are considered key.

Among the lessons learned that have helped us move forward in the past and that will also be essential to face the future, the Commissioner has considered key the continuity of policies to support science, technology and innovation, public-private collaboration (AUZOLANA), and the commitment to continuous investment. All this within the framework of the Science, Technology and Innovation Plan – PCTI Euskadi 2030 -, which constitutes our strategic roadmap for the coming years.

In this framework and in reference to the Scientific policy promoted by the Basque Government, Cristina Uriarte highlighted two main strategic lines that will allow us to deepen the Pillar of Scientific Excellence: 1) capacity building, which can be summarized in Talent and 2) the generation of knowledge and strategic transfer.

In the first, that of Talent, she highlighted the role and contribution of Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science created in 2007 and which currently has 345 high-level researchers, who carry out their work in different entities of the Basque Network for Science, Technology and Innovation. While in the second, generation and transfer of knowledge, she underlined the importance of the IKUR 2030 strategy to promote science of excellence, in addition to the work of socialisation/humanisation of science, where she cited entities such as Jakiunde, the Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, and the Chair of Scientific Culture of the UPV/EHU.

The Commissioner concluded her speech by stopping at an ambitious and benchmark project, the Basque Quantum which, led by DIPC, wants to create an ecosystem of Research, Talent and Innovation in Quantum Technologies that makes the Basque Country a hub of attraction for the brightest researchers from around the world and for the development of business opportunities.