nCa Report
Ashgabat, 26 January 2018 (nCa) — As the seven-year development plan of Turkmenistan for the period 2018-2024 gets in motion, the message is loud and clear: Science, research, innovation and technology will be the inspiration and driving force.
President Berdymuhamedov chaired Thursday a meeting of the members of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, scientists and scholars. The main item on agenda was the election of the new president of the academy.
There were four candidates, including DPM Sapardurdy Toyliyev, who was nominated by President Berdymuhamedov. A 17-member panel retired from the meeting hall for deliberation and returned with consensus that Toyliyev would head the Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Sapardurdy Toyliyev is a Ph.D. from the Bakoulev Scientific Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery (Moscow) in medical sciences. He was the deputy prime minister for education, science, healthcare, sports, and youth and public affairs since December 2011. From 2007 to 2011 he served in various important positions in the healthcare sector.
On his election to the academy of sciences, Toyliyev has been relieved of his post as the deputy prime minister.
Usually, the academy of sciences holds its own session to elect the next president and sends its recommendation to the president of Turkmenistan for approval. The fact that Berdymuhamedov decided to chair the session and nominated one of the most experienced and qualified person underlines the importance the government gives to the role of science and research in the development of the country.
After the confirmation of Toyliyev as the head of the academy of sciences, President Berdymuhamedov delivered a speech to the academics, scientists, researchers and scholars in the hall.
Here are the main points from his speech that spotlight the goals and challenges before the academy of sciences and its subordinate institutes and organizations:
- Science, as a transformational force, plays an important role in the national life, serving as a key contributor for integration into the ranks of the advanced countries. We are also making every effort to ensure that the large-scale reforms taking place in the country are based on scientific footing.
- The academy of sciences, as the hub of the science and research activity in the country must ensure the development of fundamental and applied research, simultaneously increasing the scientific, engineering and technical potential of the society.
- The intellectual elite of the nation are called upon to prepare scientists of contemporary standard, and attract the youth to the scientific creativity.
- The representatives of the scientific community should broadly engage in the analysis of projects, and development plans. It is necessary to widely apply the scientific data and proposals of scientists in the conduct of the state policy.
- The potential of the national economy depends on the scientifically based development of the key industries.
- New developments and approaches are required in the fuel and energy complex, and introduction of modern technologies for safety in the construction of international gas pipelines.
- In the agriculture sector there is the need to pay attention to the compilation of land cadastre, improvement of soil fertility, and enhancement of the quality of selection work of seeds, plants and crops.
- The country is ideally located for international transport corridors. The highways and motorways being built should be of highest quality.
- Scientific discoveries and scientifically substantiated solutions should be found for all areas of economy and life.
Berdymuhamedov said that he plans to meet soon with the top scientists and scholars of the country to clearly define the tasks facing them in the light of the national development plan for the period 2018-2024.
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The change of leadership at the academy of sciences of Turkmenistan and the pronounced emphasis on the role of science and technology in the development of the country comes when the World Economic Forum is taking place at Davos.
https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2018
A central theme at the Davos forum is – Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Professor Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, has been at the centre of global affairs for over four decades. He is convinced that we are at the beginning of a revolution that is fundamentally changing the way we live, work and relate to one another – he calls it the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In various works by scholars it is also called 4IR or Industry 4.0
The world has embraced the ideas of Klaus Schwab and many of the countries are already gearing to make the best of the forces being unleashed by science and technology. The meeting Thursday at the Academy of Turkmenistan shows that the country is heedful of the fact that lots of planning and hard work would be required to benefit from the breakneck pace of scientific and social transformations surrounding us.
It would be useful to acquaint with the views of Professor Klaus Schwab on the subject. Here is the link: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
Schwab sees as part of this revolution “emerging technology breakthroughs” in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, quantum computing and nanotechnology. The fourth wave of the industrial revolution is expected to see the heavy implementation of several emerging technologies with highly potential of disruptive effects. /// nCa