{"451181":{"#nid":"451181","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AAAS CEO Urges Policy Researchers to Restore Evidence-Based Decision Making","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the global humanitarian crisis exploded out of Syria, a provocative research presentation at the Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy revealed a stagnant global humanitarian ecosystem. The presentation laid out the challenges of stimulating innovation in a system faced with refugees who stay in camps for 17 years on average. It also explored concerns about changes that might be perceived as experimenting on displaced persons.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study, \u201cStrengthening the Humanitarian Innovation Ecosystem,\u201d by Howard Rush (University of Brighton) was one of 200 presentations made during the world-leading Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy. Organized by the Ivan Allen College School of Public Policy, the conference was held September 17-19, 2015 and featured work by more than 300 researchers from 32 countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn opening plenary remarks, Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), emphasized \u201cscience for the benefit of all\u201d and highlighted the democratization of science as an antidote for \u201ca war between evidence-based decision-making and ideology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA former congressman, Holt said, \u201cWe are losing reverence for evidence, and it\u2019s partly because people think that science is not for them,\u201d but rather, is a specialty accessible only to the scientific aristocracy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe cited climate change, the anti-vaccination movement, and the profiling of the Texas teen who was handcuffed and suspended after bringing his homemade clock to school as examples of people substituting ideology or preconceptions for evidence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe urged conference scholars to help restore confidence in evidence-based decision-making among policy makers and the general public.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy challenge to you is to address that first,\u201d Holt said. \u201cWe need to \u201cplace Ph.D.s in policy-making roles and bring political savvy back to the profession.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlanta Conference offered a comprehensive look at the ways science and innovation policies are crafted, managed, and have impacts on economies, environment, and communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe brainchild of Public Policy Professor Diana Hicks, this was the sixth Atlanta Conference, which is held biennially.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur community has grown and solidified in its commitment to this field of study,\u201d said Hicks and conference co-chair Julia Melkers, also a professor in the School of Public Policy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConference sponsors included Georgia Tech\u2019s Executive Vice President for Research, Scheller College of Business, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, U.S. National Science Foundation, IEEE USA, ChalkLabs, and the Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy at The Ohio State University.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe world-leading Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy, organized by the Ivan Allen College School of Public Policy, was held September 17-19, 2015 and featured work from researchers in 32 countries.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The world-leading Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy, organized by the Ivan Allen College School of Public Policy, was held September 17-19, 2015 and featured work by more than 300 researchers from 32 countries."}],"uid":"28513","created_gmt":"2015-09-23 14:32:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:36","author":"Daniel Singer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"451121":{"id":"451121","type":"image","title":"Atlanta Conference Organizers (l to r) Professors Valerie Thomas, Diana Hicks, and Julia Melkers with AAAS CEO Rush Holt","body":null,"created":"1449256280","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:20","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"Atlanta Conference Organizers (l to r) Professors Valerie Thomas, Diana Hicks, and Julia Melkers with AAAS CEO Rush 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