At the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (COSCE) we welcomed with hope the recent announcement of the creation of a National Scientific Advisory Office, which, according to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will be dependent on the Presidency of Moncloa on February 9th. At COSCE we had argued that Spain needed an organization similar to those that exist in other advanced countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom.
If the last pandemic showed us anything, it was precisely the need for political management to have scientific information in an agile, rigorous and understandable way. Last October, Patrick Vallance, who was an adviser to the British government between 2018 and 2023, wrote an article in the scientific magazine Science about what scientific advice for rulers should look like. Vallance began his text with a statement that is key to explaining the need for these organizations in modern governments: “Governments must understand science.” And he went on to say that this statement is obvious when talking about defense, security, health, Climate change or the loss of diversity, but also applies to other areas of government activity where it may seem less self-evident, such as urban planning, education, transport, nutrition, justice, communication systems or the use of artificial intelligence for improvement public services.
We already live in a technological civilization where science is present in or behind virtually every human activity. Seven of the world's ten largest companies are based on science and technology. And when we think about our environment, we realize that science is constantly part of our daily lives, whether we are aware of it or not.
At the same time, a worrying rejection of scientific findings is growing, which can essentially be traced back to populist positions. A rejection based on misinformation or scientific ignorance.
For all these reasons, the Office of Scientific Advice that has just been created in Spain is so necessary. However, its effectiveness depends on the type of structure with which it is equipped. At COSCE we believe that this advice should come from commissions made up of leading and independent scientists. There are enough scientists in Spain to form these commissions. They come from public research organizations, universities, companies and pre-existing and transversal scientific organizations such as our own confederation, which brings together 88 scientific societies from all scientific fields. Knowledge and more than 40,000 have members.
For the smooth functioning of this new National Scientific Advisory Office, it is very important that it is clear to society, the political class and the people who are part of the science system that it is not about scientists making policy, nor about the government making them calls for this The expert on duty is only on duty when there is a need. It's not even about those responsible for political leadership blindly following scientific advice. The point is that the government has a scientific structure that advises those in power and that political management is therefore carried out with the necessary scientific information to make informed political decisions that are scientifically based.
Patrick Vallance ended his article in Science magazine with a warning: “Scientific advice cannot be followed slavishly, but when policymakers ignore it or view it as a box-ticking exercise, the systems that support social well-being are compromised.” n endangered. The clearest example of this is climate change, and we are witnessing the consequences of this crisis.”
The establishment of the new Office of Scientific Advice by the Spanish Government represents at least confirmation that the Government recognizes this need for advice, which we at COSCE welcome and share.
Perla Wahnón Benarroch She is President of the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (COSCE).
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