I’m not the only one, let’s be honest. And this is not a confession that my home office has pens from work, no, like countless others I was watching with great interest the historical Inauguration of President Obama. I thought that the wave of change promises to be exciting, but how far reaching will it be? Following up with that, I wondered how President Obama will impact my world as a knowledge broker. Well, even before he took the oath of office he has been hard at work.
One small step which may have gone unnoticed by some is the naming of Dr. John Holdren as his Science Adviser. While this choice is not overly newsworthy to me, who has a social sciences background, it was President Obama’s comments while introducing Dr. Holdren which resonate, “My administration will value science. We will make decisions based on the facts, and we understand that facts demand bold action”.
So, to our friends south of the border, I would like to introduce you to a Canadian network of university-led knowledge mobilization units which supports evidence-informed decision making – ResearchImpact. We value science too, and view science in the broadest possible terms, including natural, social and human sciences.
Day one for President Obama and the spirit of change feels good to me! How about you? Feel free to use our comment feature to respond to this. Comments on evidence-informed decision making are invited, but no need to come clean about your home office.