The News
27 de enero de 2010
Nation becomes member of int’l science academy’s executive committee
MEXICO CITY Mexico has been named a member of the executive committee of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP), one official said Tuesday.
José Franco López, secretary of the Mexican Science Academy (AMC), explained that the designation is a recognition for the leadership Mexico has taken in Latin America. It is one of 11 countries to be on the committee.
According to the IAP’s website, the academy is an international network of science academies from 104 countries. The London-based IAP’s main goal “is to help member academies work together to advise citizens and public officials on the scientific aspects of critical global issues.”
The website says that “IAP is particularly interested in assisting young and small academies to achieve these goals and, through the communication links and networks created by IAP activities, all academies will be able to raise both their public profile among citizens and their influence among policy makers.”
In a press release, López underscored the importance of Mexico’s inclusion on the 2010 to 2012 executive committee. It includes five developing and five industrialized countries.
The Chilean Academy of Sciences was the only other Latin American academy to be included on the list.
The designation, the secretary explained, is part of the efforts AMC has made in the past few years on an international scale, such as its membership in the Inter-American Network of Science Academies (IANAS) and the group of science academy experts in the G8 + 5.
López added that science academies should play an important role in society as the political arm of scientists, who represent a particular country’s highest level of knowledge.
With Mexico’s inclusion on the executive committee, Mexican lawmakers and authorities should give more weight to science, López said.
The IAP has regional organizations as well, which answer to areas or problems of interest specific to each region.
Former AMC president Juan Pedro Laclette San Román presides over Latin America’s IANAS.
The other countries that will serve on the executive committee include Australia, China, France, India, Egypt, Italy, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States.