Cognizant of the critical role public policy can play in the advancement of science, technology and innovation, the Academy can offer the legislative council, government and other stakeholders with independent expert opinion and advice on strategic national matters, and science related policy issues across the various social, economic and technological sectors. In doing so, the Academy will cooperate with the natural partners from government, academia and the private sector.
The Academy offers scientific societies and the scientific community at large, both at home and in the diaspora, a platform to engage in science policy research, assessment and advocacy. It fosters dialogue through policy roundtables and expert group meetings. Moreover, the Academy produces technical status-of-science reports through the Science Technology and Innovation Observatory.
The Academy’s policy intervention aims at supporting the development of policies and strategies that unleash and foster Palestinian talent and disruptive innovation, make science and technology central to national and sectoral policies, rationalize investments in R&D, synchronize the efforts of various national agencies, and stimulate multi-stakeholder partnerships, which support the development of a prosperous, vibrant and resilient Palestinian economy.
Policy Roundtables
Currently, the Academy is placing special focus on the development of policies related to the following issues
- Configuring a well-functioning Palestinian science technology and innovation system
- Government funding of research : priorities and effective mechanisms
- Stimulating collaborative and multidisciplinary research
- Leveraging expatriate “brain trust”
- Fostering academia-industry partnerships
- Research commercialization
- Green production
- Food security
Science Technology & Innovation Observatory
The Observatory will periodically monitor key indicators and trends in various aspects of science, technology and innovation and will provide policy makers with vital data that will inform priority interventions, policy formulation and the planning process.
Impact Assessment
The Academy is adopting Athar Portal, courtesy of American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute, for the assessment of the social impact of scientific research on Palestine and the Arab World
Academia-Industry Partnerships
In partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and in close cooperation with the Palestine Federation of Industries (PFI), the Academy has launched a pilot project "Enhancing University-Industry-Public Sector Partnership in Palestine" (EUIP), aiming at augmenting these multi- stakeholder partnerships.
The general objective is to stimulate and catalyze the formation of mutually enabling synergies, between research groups and clusters at universities and relevant counterparts in industry. This entails the formation, in the pilot phase, of selected thematic clusters from academia in areas such as agro-business, IT, energy, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals and marble and stone. Concurrently, parallel clusters will be formed through the good offices of the PFI. A joint task force between each pair of parallel clusters will be set up with a secretariat at the PFI. The joint task force will design a road map for sustainable collaboration including organizational and programmatic aspects.
Read more about the EUIP workshop
