The creation of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Knowledge has recently been approved in Chile. In principle, this should be good news that cheers the whole country, particularly scientists; However, not being accompanied by other decisions could only be a good start.

I say it seems to be a good start because I would point out the purpose of our country in giving science and knowledge an important place in the national work. But, if this new administrative structure is not accompanied by funding so that more and better research can be done, such a purpose will only be in dead letter and even, the creation of the Ministry could mean a decrease in the money available to investigate and generate new knowledge. in our country, since even though there is a basic structure of entities and organizations dedicated to these matters (Conicyt, Corfo, etc.), the commissioning and implementation of the Ministry will involve the hiring of new managers and officials who would spend part of the money in bureaucratic aspects.

This apprehension regarding financing is not fanciful, since the World Bank data indicates that by 2015, on average in the world, 2,2% of GDP was spent on Science and Technology. In Chile, this figure reached 0,38% of GDP, quite far from the 0,6% promised by Ricardo Lagos at the beginning of his term and much more distant from 2,07% of China or 4,23% of South Korea .

These figures indicate that Chile is owed in terms of financing Science and Technology. But to put it in a broader context, it is convenient to compare this with other items financed by the Chilean State; Thus, our country spent 2017% of GDP in Defense in 1,9, which is identical to what was spent by China, and very close to 2,17% of the world average and 2,6% of South Korea. Thus, in relative terms, Chile assigns defense similar importance to that of China and the rest of the world. We can conclude that in defense matters Chile has Ministry and financing; On the other hand, in Science and Technology, until now only the Ministry would be counted.

Despite this low funding, Chilean scientists have a prestige gained among their peers in various disciplines (Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, etc.). On the other hand, the quality and rate of scientific publications of Chilean researchers is relatively high based on available funding. Some years ago I had to participate in Conicyt committees that would finance the financing of Fondecyt projects (which are the basis of pure research in Chile); There I could see with a bit of sadness that many high quality projects were left without funding due to lack of resources. Therefore, if we want Chilean scientists to have resources to answer questions, solve problems and develop innovations that will one day generate activities that replace the income currently generated by copper, it is not enough to have a Ministry of Science and Technology, but that The resources to research, develop and innovate must be provided. The container is not enough, the content is also needed.

Finally, as Chileans, citizens must give the researcher an important role in our country, because scientists are the ones who find the answer to many of the questions we ask ourselves. They are the trainers of our future scientists and professors, as well as the people who can contribute ideas and context to make our country, in a near future hope, a fully developed nation. Therefore, a Ministry is a good start, but so far the Chilean State and society have lacked a greater commitment to Science and Technology.