Establishing a Ministry of Science and Technology in Liberia will help create more focus on the improvement of STEM programs across the country, it will help contribute to economic growth and collaborates with other sectors in developing relevant innovations; coordinates scientific Research to promote investment in science and technology; and promotes advancement of knowledge, skills in science and technology to accelerate transformation into digital economy.
By Mohammed Konneh, [email protected], Contributing Writer
Development at any phase is always linked with science and technology. Technology happens when there is advancement in science. Hence science, technology and development are all proportional to each other.
Today, countries are classified as developed and developing countries. The major categorization is based on economy and the application of science and technology. If you carefully analyzed, one gets to understand that countries which have a strong base in science and technology are the ones that developed faster. A few examples are of countries like America, Russia, Japan, Brazil, China, India and many more.
It was estimated before by the World Bank that seven of the ten largest economies of the world by 2020 would be in Asia, China, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, and Taiwan. A few decades ago, these countries were known to have poor policies, low discipline, and no advancement and then with the introduction of science and technology in an effective manner, they have made ripples across the globe.
The role that science and technology has played in improving the living conditions of people across the world is vivid, but the benefit must be harvested maximum by all countries. Science and technology have made life a lot easier and a lot better with the advancement of medicines and analysis on diseases, there has been remarkable development in education, communication, agriculture, industry etc.
It is always said that a nation’s development and prosperity is judged to a large extend by the status of science and technology of that nation. A scientifically unsophisticated society means an underdeveloped nation in all sectors. It is easily understood when analyzing that countries like Japan and USA who invest a decent amount for research and development are in the highest stratum of development whereas countries like Liberia who does not have any plan of improving STEM in research and development remain in the lowest ladder of development.
Without proper implementation of science and technology, no nation can grow and all those nations that were labelled as low in growth have proved where they stand today and all that has happened only because of science and technology.
I think Liberia is no exception, by establish a ministry of Science and Technology Liberia can work to improve her young and innovative youth in science, Technology and research.