|
Check out the voice of the President of the National Centre for Technological Innovation Foundation (CENIT), REACCIUN (Venezuela), and his vision about RedCLARA and collaboration. Read this and other interviews in the book “RedCLARA: Name, voice and instrument of collaboration in Latin America”.
What comes to your mind when you hear a researcher talking about collaboration?
Collaboration in the context of research is related to the exchange of ideas and shared work in the collective construction of knowledge, of knowledge management as part of the sum of interrelated elements which are included in every research process. From the current point of view of research related to Free Information Technologies, collaboration implies sharing sources, repositories and databases, exchange in discussing paradigms, analysis of global environments, implementation of joint research around areas of common interest and production of free knowledge available for other researchers.
On the other hand, collaboration is a mechanism which can have an impact on the improvement of research processes with the convergence of experiences and expertise, thus strengthening the attention to needs through projects.
What would you say is the most important aspect of research and education networks?
- Promotion of applied research with exchange of knowledge as the answer to real problems contextualised in time-space-community.
- Access to academic knowledge and the knowledge stemming from the experiences of learning communities (popular innovators).
- Encouragement for the training of new researchers.
- Support for the development of multidisciplinary projects which address the region’s strategic and critical areas from various dimensions.
How would you describe the role of RedCLARA both at a regional and global level?
As an opportunity for inclusion for the scientific and academic sectors through the promotion of local research networks that come together under research lines in response to the local and/or regional needs, thus contributing to the global community.
RedCLARA is a network which has played the role of information and knowledge manager; it has enabled the dissemination of new spaces through the use of advanced networks and the internet. It has been a road that has encouraged relations and the exchange between researchers at a global level, eliminating barriers and building new ways for intellectual growth.
What has been the key important aspect of the ALICE2 project for your network?
For our Network, ALICE2 has made a contribution in the field of science, research and in the creation of communities of scientists, through the interaction with a powerful telecommunications network, exclusively devoted to the progress of academic disciplines across the region, and in direct communication with scientific communities around the world.
On the other hand, it has enabled the operational and actual interrelation in joint research projects and developments between actors in the European and Latin American academia, leaving behind rhetoric and transcending into collaborative activities in different areas of interest. It has enabled the addition of new values linked by one single code despite having symbolic barriers like language or culture. It is the opportunity to develop knowledge communities for research associated to areas and problems of common interest in different nations.
How important is for REACCIUN the collaboration with other national and regional networks and how do you collaborate globally?
The participation of REACCIUN in collaboration with other networks contributes to the development of education, science, research and innovation in the countries that are part of the allied networks, thus providing the scientific and academic sectors with the possibility of accessing academic and research resources remotely and participating in multidisciplinary collaboration projects, at both national and international level.
For REACCIUN collaboration is very important, since it results in the opportunity to offer a differentiating service for the academia and research centres, through which researchers, teachers and students can exchange experiences and share results in the search for answers to the problems to be addressed. Additionally, it represents the opportunity to strengthen and expand its presence in collaborative work through the use of advanced networks and incorporating Venezuela as an active nation in R+D+I into international networks which cut across diplomacy and are reflected in concrete actions, thus promoting regional inclusion and joint management.
If RedCLARA did not exist, what would the science, research and innovation scenario in your country be like?
There would be limitations in the possibility of promoting the exchange of knowledge with the different academic, scientific and artistic institutions in Latin America, Europe and different parts of the world. Likewise, there would be limitations to guarantee a robust, dynamic, reliable, high-quality and availability service, suitable for the high demands of the country’s scientific-academic sector, and this would reduce the development of new advanced services.
Could you describe your view of research and education networks in the future?
In the short term, research and education networks must become an alternative for the convergence of researchers and communities, as a way to offer concrete solutions to the real needs of the population.
In the mid-term, they must have an impact on the development of new methodologies for online collaboration and expand their coverage towards innovators and organised communities.
In the long term, they have to offer platforms and access, and coordinate collaborative research plans which encourage the participation of the social actors who experience the needs, so that they have a leading role in the socio-cultural and scientific-technological changes that have to do with them.
During the entire implementation, networks must emphasise the encouragement for the creation of knowledge and research for the development of innovative proposals for the region in new areas of knowledge such as nanotechnology and robotics, among others, with the idea of moving forward in the development of the region’s technological potential.
In a cross-cutting way, advanced networks, networks based on intelligence systems and on supercomputing systems which enable the creation of new knowledge and the processing of data from other perspectives which increase efficiency and effectiveness in the development of results. Likewise, the barriers still present, like language or the quality of connectivity, will move on to a different level, since the quality of communication channels will be even greater and the distractions still present in the network would tend to disappear.
According to your point of view, what should be the role of RedCLARA over the next five years?
RedCLARA must continue to encourage and strengthen the development of collaborative activities in issues related to advanced networks technologies and issues related to education, science, innovation and research, as a promoter of collaborative R+D+I and as the creator of best practices and of a knowledge space in permanent growth and development. (Construction and creation of new knowledge for the new global process being developed. A technological platform where lots of contents are hosted, such as:
- Knowledge communities
- Digital library
- Researchers’ profiles
- Researchers’ papers
- Promotion of everything related to science and technology
- Projects aimed at the science and technology area
(Among others). |
