Evropski komisar Janez Potočnik je v ameriški poljudnoznanstveni reviji SEEDMAGAZINE pravkar objavil esej z naslovom On the Freedom of Knowledge.
We know the challenges our societies are facing. We are in the midst of quite an extraordinary phenomenon: the emergence of a nearly worldwide consensus that our planet needs to be redesigned in an ecological, demographical, economical, and, most of all, sustainable way. We might disagree about how to do it, but Bob Dylan’s “The Times, They Are a-Changin’” is clearly as valid today as it was in the 1960s.
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Although diverse, its policies have one common operational objective: the creation of a truly single European market for research. A market where knowledge, researchers, and technology can move freely across frontiers, to wherever they can best be used and create the most value.
We call it the “Fifth Freedom,” and it sits naturally alongside the EU’s other four freedoms: the free flow of people, goods, services, and money.
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This freedom of knowledge is our way forward, as well as our contribution to mobilize the best in European science and research. But we are far from realizing it properly.
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There have never been so many scientists or so much knowledge, or such targeted policies to turn this knowledge into the solutions we need for our global challenges.
That is why I am optimistic, regardless of the depth and difficulty of challenges ahead.
