APEC Open Science Webinar & 2020 Apec Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (Aspire)

There’s no better time to celebrate science and technology than during the pandemic; it drives home the value and importance of this field in our lives.

Open Science represents a new approach to the scientific process based on cooperative work and new ways of disseminating knowledge by using digital technologies and new collaborative tools to address global challenges. The aim of APEC Policy Sharing Webinar on Open Science is to build a community of purpose that works together to identify platform governance measures and technical knowhow; and serves as a medium to share best practices in APEC economies and international policies for platform governance.

Invited experts from member of economies emphasized on the need for data and information sharing at an unprecedented scale by the paradigm of Open Science, which has been further triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts in attendance are:

I. Dr Alan Paic, Senior Policy Analyst, Science & Technologies Policies, OECD

II. Dr Yasuhiro Murayama, Member, Science Council of Japan

III. Dr Virginia Barbour, Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG)

IV. Prof Dr Noorsaadah Abdul Rahman FASc, Chairperson, Malaysia Open Science Alliance (MOSP)

V. Dr Anders Karlsson, Vice President, Global Strategic Networks, Elsevier

An APEC PPSTI Statement on Open Science has been developed during the Webinar to promote engagement and knowledge sharing among APEC Economies through Open Science. In the statement, the APEC economies recognize that Open Science has a vital role in fostering sustainable and inclusive

economic growth and development, bringing with it the full benefit of innovation. This can only be realized by increasing the public and private sector’s commitment to a robust Open Science ecosystem which will underpin the aspirations of society for a more equitable sharing of scientific information. In conjunction with APEC 2020 and to celebrate its ten-year anniversary, the Webinar has featured the award ceremony of 2020 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE). It is an annual award that recognizes young scientists with demonstrated commitment to excellence in scientific research.

Dr Huai Chen (a professor at the Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a leading researcher focusing in wetland biodiversity and ecosystem services) was named the region’s top early career researcher. Wetlands conservation contributes to important works in climate change mitigation, as wetlands are one of the most effective carbon sinks. Dr Chen’s findings led to a better understanding of these wetlands, including protecting, developing new generation models for methane emissions and enhancing assessment of carbon storage and ecological value. Dr Chen was selected from a group of twelve finalists, each nominated by one of the APEC member economies under the 2020 ASPIRE theme, “Biodiversity for a Prosperous Economy” and was awarded a prize of USD 25,000, supported by publishers of scholarly scientific knowledge, Wiley and Elsevier

The winner for ASPIRE Prize was announced by YB Datuk Ir Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir, the Secretary-general of Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI).