The Final Report of the “Atlas of Islamic World Science and Innovation (AIWSI)” Project has been launched as  sidelines to the Seventh Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research (ICMHESR) held on 18-19 December 2014 in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco. The launch event was attended by Ministers and High-level Officials of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the OIC Member Countries.

The AIWSI project was lauded by the Fourth Session of ICMHESR in Azerbaijan in October 2008. The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Qatar Foundation (QF), OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), British Council, Nature, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) were among the international partners of the Atlas Project while SESRIC and the Royal Society have been the co-managers.

At the second working session of Seventh ICMHESR, the AIWSI Final Report was co-presented by Dr. Julie Maxton, Executive Director, Royal Society, and Mr. Hüseyin Hakan Eryetli, Director, Statistics and Information Department of SESRIC.

In her presentation, Dr. Maxton expressed her pleasure for the completion of the AIWSI Final Report. She briefed the participants with the historical background of the AIWSI Project, the overview of the Final Report, and the general observations of science, technology and innovation (STI) in the Islamic-world. Besides, she informed the participants about the five country case studies that have been published under AIWSI Project, namely the case studies of (Malaysia), (Egypt), (Kazakhstan), (Jordan) and (Indonesia).

Mr. Eryetli continued the presentation with some facts and figures on STI in OIC member countries. He emphasized that the major indicators on research and scientific development display a large disparity within the OIC Member Countries. He also indicated that OIC members, individually or as a group, lag far behind the rest of the world, particularly the developed countries, with a few exceptions. Future plans were identified to re-establish the Islamic World as a centre of scientific and technological excellence, facilitate intra-OIC networking opportunities through specific mapping projects, improve the living standards for scientist to reduce brain drain from member countries to other countries, increase women participation in higher education, promote academic research through research grants and develop an OIC level patent system to encourage patenting and technology licensing.

At the end of the Launch Event, Ministers and High-level Officials of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the OIC Member Countries expressed their thanks and appreciation to SESRIC, the Royal Society and the partner institutions for their great effort in providing an insightful overview of science and science-based innovation across the Islamic-world.

Document

• Final Report of the ‘Atlas of Islamic World Science and Innovation (AIWSI)’ Project (English)