The starting position of this object is m. The object is traveling at a velocity of m/s.

The starting position of this object is 3 m

The object is traveling at a velocity of 3 m/s

Explanation:

Catalyst has found usage in non-scientific terms as an almost metaphorical word for something provokes or speeds up action or change. The word's applicability to many topics made it easy for it to find its way out of the scientific lexicon and into other domains, in this case political. 

Its meaning is roughly the same, in that a catalyst in this context is something that facilitated or sped up the process of glasnost.

One distinct meaning that I notice is that "catalyst" in more casual or non-scientific speech is that it is often used as a creator of action all its own, an actor in itself, rather than a facilitating agent to a reaction, as its scientific definition states.