Report from the round table: Scientific diplomacy and its usefulness for the Czech Republic
On the occasion of the Czech edition of the book “Science and diplomacy, a new dimension of international relations”, the author of the book Pierre-Bruno Ruffini, professor of economics at the University of Le Havre and the former Scientific Council of the French Embassies in Russian and in Italy, presented at the French Institute. The book was translated by the Academy of Science of Czech Republic and has the forward from Prof. Jiří Drahoš.
The book presentation was followed by the round table: „Scientific diplomacy and its usefulness for the Czech Republic”, participating: Prof. Pierre-Bruno Ruffini, author of the book, Rut Bizkova, Director of SIC; Prof. Jiri Drahos, former ASCR president; Otakar Fojt, Scientific Diplomat at the UK Embassy and Mathieu Wellhoff, Scientific Diplomat at the French Embassy.
The round table addressed 3 questions:
- What kind of Science Diplomacy should Czech Republic adopt?
- What countries should be targeted?
- What should be the profile for a scientific diplomat?
What kind of Science Diplomacy should Czech Republic adopt?
Rut Bízková: “This book is very interesting, being said that, every country needs science diplomacy. In Czech Republic we have important research infrastructures (RIs) but not many people. We can use science diplomacy to support such RIs, to make them useful to our society, to Czech Republic and to other countries”.
Prof. Jiří Drahoš: “Czech Republic needs scientific diplomats for dissemination of knowledge (patents, cooperation with companies), to encourage scientific cooperation and increase the prestige of our country in the area of science”.
Both scientific diplomats said: “any kind of science diplomacy needs to be useful, with clear goals and prioritization”.
What countries should be targeted?
Rut Bízková: “Depending what is our goal is our strategy. If we want to use science diplomacy as soft power then certain countries will be targeted, if we want it to attract, cooperate or influence then the countries will vary, we also need to consider the international context.”
All speakers agreed however on few countries: U.K, Japan, US, South Korea and France.
What should be the profile for a scientific diplomat?
Rut Bízková: “Experience people. Somebody that really knows the management of the research and development system of our country”.
All speakers agreed that it has to be somebody in a senior position with experience, soft skills and with certain level of empowerment.
Author: Athziri Moreno Romo, Head of Strategic Interventions Department, SIC
