Fostering a culture supportive of innovation

Calls to raise Malta's profile in the fields of research and development and innovation have been hailing from all quarters in recent years. And they're getting louder.

The intrinsic relation between R&D and quality of life is taking on an elevated status in European circles. Writing in The Sunday Times last week to highlight the research opportunities available under the Seventh Framework Programme, Janez Potocnik, the European Commissioner responsible for Science and Research, emphasised: "If we want to develop new products and services that boost our export markets, discover new drugs and therapies for diseases and conditions that threaten our health, protect our planet, and find sources of energy that are secure, limitless and non-polluting, then we need to know more and be better."

These issues will come to the fore at the biennial Expo Science Med (ESM) 2006 which opens tomorrow at the University of Malta. Running until Saturday, it is organised by a team of full-time students still active within the National Student Travel Foundation (NSTF), with the support of the International Movement for Leisure in Science and Technology (MILSET), an NGO working to make scientific research widely attractive.

Matthew Mizzi, the project co-ordinator, explains that the event "aims to breathe life into science."

"ESM 2006 forms part of a series of activities called Expo-Sciences which are convoked on an international level by MILSET. The concept of Expo-Sciences started in 1984, when MILSET was born and has since witnessed considerable improvement in its form. Today, Expo-Sciences are held all over the world.

"Expo-Sciences aim to link people from different cultures and countries to display their research projects and interact. Each event serves to show that science is a tool for dialogue among cultures. Certainly, ESM 2006 - Malta will not be an exception."

The team has decided to go up a gear this year to ensure the ESM addresses current issues.

"The ESM is being held when the public sector is showing increased commitment in attracting more students to the science disciplines," Mr Mizzi pointed out.

"The private sector, thanks to the efforts of different NGOs, is today becoming increasingly aware of the importance of R&D to achieve better results. Furthermore, today there are increased opportunities for the mobility of researchers and their ideas."

Mr Mizzi said that despite encouraging results and a declared commitment by the public sector to foster innovation, Malta still has a long way to go: "Just compare Malta's 0.29 per cent of GDP investment in R&D with Sweden's 3.74 per cent. These are important indicators. It is only through a strong commitment of all the stakeholders in innovation - the public, education, private and financial sectors - that Malta will achieve success in this field. If we want to be innovative, it is imperative that there is a culture for innovation.

"ESM 2006 aims to inspire each and every participant to hold dear the basic element of innovation - curiosity. The event aims to instil curiosity through practical hands-on activities that will target all age groups. It also aims to show that science is fun."

The ESM's events will be hosted within a 2,000 square-metre science village erected in one of the University's car parks. It will feature 20 art installations, scientific games and a 'Science Café'.

Forty-one young people from the Euro-Med region will present scientific projects within the Expo, while the Little Scientists' Village will see a series of hands-on experiments prepared in close collaboration with Mark Theuma. "Science Goes Safari", organised in collaboration with Miriam Theuma from the Department of Curriculum's Science Centre, aims to help children discover the use of scientific principles in everyday life.

An old bus will be converted into a small theatre as young children meet Newton in a story-telling session, organised with the Manoel Theatre and the University's Theatre Studies Department. There will also be hands-on experiments produced by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST).

The Fusion Expo is an itinerant exhibition of the European Commission answering the basic questions about Fusion Energy - the research which takes up to 40 per cent of the EU's research budget. Fusion Expo is being organised in collaboration with University of Malta lecturers.

ESM 2006 will also host talks, interactive workshops and lectures delivered by a line-up of local and international speakers in four workshop areas and two theatres.

Professor Peter Douglas, a chemistry professor from the University of Swansea, will be delivering a very entertaining talk on chemistry and light. His visit is being organised in collaboration with the British Council.

The Commonwealth Association for Science Mathematics and Technology Educators (Europe) Conference will be held on Friday and is aimed primarily at educators in the field of science, mathematics and technology.

The Business Programme will provide a forum for all stakeholders in the innovation field can engage in positive dialogue, network and create economic opportunity between Tuesday and Thursday.

A host of organisations and entities have supported the organising team and representatives from the Malta Business Bureau, the Malta Council for Science and Technology, the University of Malta, the Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit and the Federation of Industry have formed an advisory board.

"The collaboration with these and other organisations has proved to be beneficial," Mr Mizzi explained.

"We have had the opportunity of pooling in resources with the different partners to be able to achieve new heights. The expertise and time invested by our partner organisations have immensely helped our team which was always been driven by an ambition to succeed."

How will the ESM highlight the tangible application of science in Maltese society?

"The event will show that the feats of scientific research are the cause of the improved quality of life which we are experiencing today," Mr Mizzi points out.

"The exhibition of students' projects will show that science is a tool for intercultural dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean Region. Our society stands to gain with a stable and prosperous Mediterranean region that allows for free mobility of people and ideas. We believe that scientific exchange should be one of the tenets of cultural exchange in the Mediterranean region and a pillar of a revitalised Euro-Mediterranean Policy.

"The Fusion Expo will outline the positive effects that Fusion research has had so far. Research into clean and efficient energy is already sprouting spin-offs in other areas like medical research. This exhibition will show the opportunities which our society can exploit now that it can better participate in the European Research Area.

"The staff and students at the University will be devoting their energies to show how their work is relevant to Maltese society's needs. Institute of Healthcare lecturers will be explaining how improvements in science have led to better medical equipment, while engineering students will interact with younger students and explain the rewards of an engineering career.

"Different bodies like Heritage Malta, Enemalta, Studio Seven, the Ministry for Resources and the Environment will be explaining to the public how science affects their role in society as the providers of goods and services which help improve our quality of life."

Mr Mizzi insists that there needs to be an accessible Intellectual Property Rights regime to protect scientists' ideas locally. That, added to innovation-friendly policies, entrepreneurs who realise the idea's potential, and financial institutions which provide the support for that idea to go commercial.

"An educational sector capable of producing human resources to meet the challenge of making an idea a commercial success is needed.

All is to be complemented by a culture favouring innovation and aware of the opportunities lying within. The best award a scientist can ever win is to see his idea successfully transferred into society. After all, an idea is there to open a door of opportunity."

Asked how our scientists fare in international fields, Mr Mizzi emphasised the need for more investment in the sector.

"Maltese scientists fare internationally as much as our economy does. With an economy investing the smallest amount of its product in research and development than other EU member states, our scientists' chances are limited. Yet there are some positive signs in the fields of IT, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals which are seeing considerable investments.

"The long-term picture is certainly more comforting as Government intends to push the economy to spend more than twice it does today over the next five years. Plans are translated into action only when they have popular backing. This is the purpose of ESM 2006."