HURTADO, Jesús
Member of the Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, Congress of the Republic of Peru
Jesús Hurtado Zamudio is Former Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Commission, Congress of the Republic of Peru.
Born in 1947 in the Central Peruvian town of Jauja, Junín - an area of Andean highlands and cloud forests - Congressman Hurtado has served in the Peruvian legislature since 2011 as a member of Keiko Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular party. He speaks Spanish, English, German, and Portuguese.
He is a member of the Parliamentary Science, Innovation and Technology Commission, which he chaired for the 2012-2013 legislative period. During the period he enhanced the role of the country’s National Science and Technology Commission as a body that guides and stimulates links between the private sector, academia, and the State. Under his leadership, the legislative body passed laws to promote public-private partnerships, for open access to science and technology information, for the development of industrial parks, and to grant recognition for Peruvian researchers.
He chairs the Peru-Germany Parliamentary Friendship League, and serves on the Education Commission and the Transport and Communications Commission.
He read psychology at the Universidad Andina del Cusco, took a master’s degree in mental health and social clinics at the Universidad de León, Spain, and holds a PhD in psychology from Atlantic International University in the USA. He studied philosophy at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Seminary and theology at the Facultad de Teología Pontificia y Civil, in Lima. He went on to study theology at the Wuperttal Bibel Seminar and took a master's degree in missionary studies at Freie Hochschule für Mission in Heidelberg, Germany.
He was a member of the Dominican Order before becoming an evangelical pastor - a role he has held for 28 years, while also teaching and working as a radio and television producer. He lived through the violence brought about by the Shining Path and MRTA terrorist groups. He has founded and led evangelical teaching centres in the Andes and Amazon of Peru, and is now a consultant and authority in the fields of theology, neuropsychology, and political and organizational psychology.
His publications include “Psicología Política” (“Political Psychology”, 2015) and “Hacia un Mundo Mejor - Pensando y legislando para el futuro” (Towards a Better World - thinking and legislating for the future”, 2014).
ABSTRACT
17:00-18:30 5 NOVEMBER
thematic SESSION i.C: ENABLING SCIENCE THROUGH PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNANCE
Peru is a country that faces a number of challenges in the areas of science and innovation. Following many years of weak political will and slow degeneration of the sector, the country’s legislative branch is now spearheading initiatives to improve funding, promote cross-sector initiatives, and identify opportunities for synergy.
Bills currently before congress will build on successful experiences of collaboration and rescuing indigenous intellectual heritage, in a bid to boost dynamism in the sector and incentivize an influx of scientific talent - both Peruvian researchers currently working overseas and foreign specialists.
In the long term, it is hoped that a Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Technology will be able to create an institutional framework capable of managing the flows of financial resources and knowledge while promoting growth in the country’s scientific community, as a fundamental pillar of Peru’s commitment to sustainable development.