In the discussion about the best response to the COVIN-10 outbreak, much emphasis has been placed on scientific advice to Ministries and Parliaments. However, little attention has been paid to the uptake capacity of these institutions.
To understand and integrate the advice from scientists of different disciplines, and translate it into effective policies, these bodies need knowledgeable staff who can do so. Unfortunately, past rounds of austerity have stripped them of the people who know what has been tried in the past, and people who do know what they do not know.
As a result, governments hire a lot of external experts. According to the most recent Annual Report on the Operations of the Dutch National Government, for example, many ministries have surpassed the maximum norm for hiring of consultants (of 10 percent). With the consultants leaving after their job is done, the government remains with a limited knowledge base. Ellen Moors, Roshan Cools and Tim van der Hagen, members of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation (AWTI) have forcefully made this point in a recent opinion article in Het Financieele Dagblad (24 June 2020).
They rightly argue that an adequate knowledge base is required for governments at all levels to absorb scientific advice. Otherwise, the response to the next crisis might be as haphazard as the one we recently experienced.
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