Workshop on inclusive renovation between VAST and GRA

27/11/2012

On July 25th to 27th 2012, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) held a workshop on inclusive renovation with the Global Research Alliance (GRA).The workshop drew the participation of Prof. Dr. Sc. Duong Ngoc Hai, VAST vice chairman, leaders from the Department of Application and Development of Technology, the Department of International Cooperation, scientific councils of 21 institutes under VAST and GRA delegation, including manager of GRA Dr. Bart Follink and representatives from institutes under GRA.

The workshop aimed to exchange challenges, opportunities and solutions to science and technology, focusing on several prioritized fields which can have rapid and important effects on society and economy, and fields that Vietnam has strength in and prioritizes in the strategy for socio-economic development in 2011-2020, especially agriculture, aquiculture, environment, health, traditional medicine, renewable energy, information technology, commercialization of science and technology products. Inclusive renovation is a process of successfully exploiting new ideas and realizing in life, and solving great challenges of each nation.

GRA is an alliance of nine application research organization, including Battelle Memorial Institute (USA), Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO Australia), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, India), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, South Africa), Danish Technological Institute, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), SIRIM Berhard (Malaysia), and Technical Research Centre (VTT Finland), with more than 60,000 scientists in different fields. The major task of GRA is to promote science and technology, renovation and creativity for sustainable development, contributing to equal development in economy and society. The main goal is to find technology solutions in order to contribute to solving global challenges and difficulties.

Representatives from each side presented reports on each fields. Participants also conducted discussion groups to define detailed technologies and fields which can be developed and commercialized.

Scientists made presentations at the seminar

The workshop improved knowledge about inclusive renovation, shared experiences in developing solutions in developed nations to solve development challenges and issues that Vietnam is facing. It also created favourable conditions for establishing partner cooperation between the VAST and GRA institutes.

The successful workshop was also a good beginning step for building science and technology cooperation according to the spirit of inclusive renovation.