Díaz-Canel insists on making progress in the country based on talent, intelligence and creativity.    Photo / Granma

By Roberto Morejón

Although the material circumstances are pressing, Cubans seek in 2023 to mitigate to some extent the difficulties, for which they believe in the validity of science and innovation.

The improvement, as far as possible, of the lives of citizens in the material and spiritual spheres depends on many conditioning factors.

That relief is colored by the persistent U.S. blockade, the financial burden left by the pandemic and the international context marked by high prices of food, goods and energy.  

But even on that rope, after a year of material hardship, many experts recommend appealing more to science, innovation and information technology solutions, while working on the fructification of key provisions for the take-off of state-owned companies and agriculture.

With an increasing use of the Internet, many Cubans are turning to social networks to settle disputes in the distribution mechanisms of food and other services.

Many are looking to the universities, pioneers in promoting the management of science and innovation, such as the emergence of scientific-technological parks, an aspiration still in its infancy.

The authorities urge the centers of higher education to continue research and production in the institutions if there is the possibility.

The President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, insists on advancing in the country based on talent, intelligence and creativity.

These are tools of human knowledge that can help the largest of the Antilles to find answers to current problems.

Although progress is still insufficient, there are attempts to apply IT solutions in the narrow system of public administration and in the provision of services.

Of course, young people play an important role in the efforts to ensure that science and innovation contribute to Cuba's development and help find answers to the material hardships of the present.

Hence the encouragement for students to join research lines and the aspiration that more and more of their labor expectations are covered in the country, rather than abroad.

When Cuba awaits a modest gradual recovery in 2023, starting from a very complicated situation, experts have confidence in the potential of science and innovation in the country, based on a high level of general education.