Chile’s president: Science can pave way for ‘happy, optimistic’ future
Santiago, Jan 16 (EFE).- President Gabriel Boric on Monday inaugurated the 12th edition of the Congress of the Future, a major annual Chilean event for the dissemination of scientific knowledge, telling the audience that science-based development is the key to forging a “happy and optimistic” future.
“I’m eager and optimistic about the future. We’re very accustomed to tragic news, to an overwhelming daily reality, but the future isn’t waiting for us, it’s happening, and it can be happy and optimistic,” the center-left head of state said.
“Chile has a lot to offer the world, and when we think about that phrase we do so in terms of raw materials: liters, copper, production of green hydrogen, but it’s not just energy or raw materials; it’s also knowledge, it’s science, creativity, innovation, imagination,” Boric added.
The president recalled that Chile’s 2023 budget features a 13.3 percent increase in science investment, a sign that his administration “has the conviction that science and knowledge are the pillar of our development.”
This year’s event, which will run through Friday, is being held under the banner “No Real Limit” and will cover topics including artificial technology, the metaverse, neurorights, civil participation in decision-making and the environment.
“It’s challenging to think how scientific thought, in its inquisitive and curious way of seeing the world, protects us from dogmatism and offers us a guide for navigating an increasingly complex world. And events like this are important because they fulfill the role of disseminating” acquired knowledge, Boric said.
For the first time since its inception in 2011, the Congress of the Future will feature on-site activities in all 16 Chilean regions, where international speakers, accompanied by local experts, will address problems specific to each site.
As part of those tours of different parts of Chile, the Congress of the Future will analyze sustainability problems, new forms of energy production and climate change. EFE
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