COLOMBIA

On November 2, the Sixth Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the Bill 218/2021 that formalizes the creation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MinCiencias in Spanish). The bill seeks to approve through legislative channels the creation of the Ministry, which has been in place since 2019. The initiative will pass to the Plenary Sessions of the Senate and the House of Representatives for its final debate, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

The bill, which transforms the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (COLCIENCIAS in Spanish) into the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, responds to the Constitutional Court’s declaration of unenforceability of Law 1951 of 2019, which created said Ministry. With this initiative, the Ministry will be consolidated through official channels as the governing body of science, technology and innovation policy.