Some of the positions go back a long time. Japan recently created a science advisor to the Prime Minister, and that's in place. They have a Council for Science and Technology Policy, on which the science advisor sits, but he also has access to the Prime Minister. That's a change in the direction I was recommending.
In the United Kingdom there's a long history of science advisors. These science advisors have always had the ear of the Prime Minister in the U.K., but the relationship between David King, the last science advisor, and Tony Blair was very positive for the United Kingdom--not just for their investments in science, but their tackling of various problems they've had.