When thousands of citizens innovate: how policy-makers can contribute

The COVID-19 pandemic is a great challenge to our global society, exposing our limitations as well as new ways to generate adequate responses to global crises. Communities and individuals have spontaneously organized to deal with this crisis. Thousands of skillful individuals have engaged in the development of mechanical ventilators and masks, SARS-CoV-2 test kits, mobile applications for contact tracking and for coordinating mutual help and care, to name just a few. [...]

we advise that the Canadian Government recognize this movement. This would lead to a second step of creating a normative system to regulate this new sector and to legitimize it [...].
_________

Featured Editorial Series "Response to COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impacts" by the Canadian Science Policy Center. Access all editorials.