H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Misnad at the Founding Conference for Arab Expatriate Scientists said "I believe in Arab brains and the Arab people. We have stood for the Arab and Islamic word. I have confidence in our youth. Our students can do well if we give them the right environment.”
Establishing Intellects Inc
OVER a period of two weeks, Doha played host to intellects from across the world. First at the Founding Conference for Arab Expatriate Scientists and then at the second symposium on Innovations in Education. H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Misnad, the Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation, urged the Qatari youth and intellectuals to take up the challenge of creating an environment conducive to building a knowledgebased and research-friendly society in the country.
In response to a query, she said “I am not a scientist but I know that the future of the Arab society lies in the revival of science and knowledge. We have the resources and the potential. What we are lacking is the confidence, after the failure of many Arab initiatives. I believe in Arab brains and the Arab people. We have stood for the Arab and Islamic word. I have confidence in our youth. Our students can do well if we give them the right environment.”
She reiterated the country’s commitment to knowledge, in her opening address at the second Innovations in Education symposium. Sheikha Mozah also called for investing heavily in science and development in the region, noting that the present investment in these fields is abysmal.
“It has been estimated that collectively the Arab countries spend approximately 0.24 per cent of their GNP on Research and Development while the highest rated countries in the world spend 3.1 per cent. While it may not be a fair measure to group all the Arab countries together in this statistic, we must admit we are not up to international standards and set the necessary priorities to invest in our future,” Sheikha Mozah said.
She noted that, while GDP in the MENA registered an annual increase of 5.5 per cent from 1993 to 2003, which is the second highest in the world, productivity, which measures how efficiently resources are used, increased by about 0.1 per cent annually during the same period. “This is only one-tenth of the world average productivity increase. So, it is clear we have the material resources to progress in the right direction, but we are not doing so. Often in our region, the acquisition of technology is seen as an end in itself. But the acquisition of technology is useless unless it is cushioned in the culture of research, innovation and social security that is required to use the technology properly to generate knowledge-based production.”
This three-day conference was organised jointly by the Qatar Foundation and Unesco. Unesco Director- General Koichiro Matsuura also spoke at the opening session. Matsuura, lauding Qatar and HH’s efforts, said, “Her initiatives in these fields are known both near and far through a wide network of media channels. We are privileged to have her gracious support, in her capacity as UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, for our initiatives aimed at the mobilisation of international support for the provision of educational services for all.
Arab expat scientists
The First Conference for Expatriate Arab Scientists sought to find an effective mechanism to pool in the know how and expertise of the Arab immigrant scientists living across the world. About 200 scientists and researchers mainly from Europe and North America attended the conference. Acting in response to an initiative by Sheikha Mozah, a group of top Arab immigrant scientists and intellectuals met in Doha last December. They discussed the foundation for the "First Conference for Arab Immigrant Minds Doha – 2006” to “put together a sustainable mechanism that would catalyse the partnership, facilitate the exchange and be the pool of information, funding and expertise,” says the conference website. The conference aims at discussing the ways through which a partnership could be established with the Arab immigrant scientists for the benefit of Arab societies, and formulating a project (projects) mirroring the urgent needs of developing scientific research.
The Conference decided to set up a task force to follow up on the and build a database for immigrant Arab scientists. According to the Action Plan, the task force will be made up of representatives of various working groups at the conference, and the conference preparatory members. All scientific research disciplines will be represented in the task force. The responsibilities of the task force include setting up a database for expatriate scientists and suggesting a comprehensive executive vision for the various partnership aspects between Qatar Foundation and the expatriate Arab scientists.
Database creation
Qatar Foundation has also signed a contract with a private company to create a data information bank of Arab scientists inside and outside the Arab world to facilitate contacting them and in turn, allowing them to contact the Qatar Science and Technology Park at the Education City. The scientists are free to decide how they want to work. They can either stay in Qatar permanently or enter and leave the country, as they please. A budget of $350 million has been decided upon besides the $7-8 billion as an endowment towards research work. A report will be handed over by the scientists in September to give a clear image about their visions and plans for the projects.
PROFESSOR Abdelali Haoudi, a Founding Member and Research Professor, Eastern Virginia Medical School, presented a paper on Arab Expatriate Scientists and Development in the Arab World: Technology Transfer, talks to Qatar Today about the problems facing Arab scientists.
What is the malaise of Arab Scientific research?
Lack of funding; poor institutional support, meagre integration within the international scientific community and geo-politics. In addition, the United Nations Human Development Report clearly showed that: Arab countries currently produce less than 1 percent of citations in the world. Arab countries contribute less than 0.5 percent of papers appearing in the 200 leading medical journals. Annual spending on research and development in Arab countries is estimated at 0.15 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), compared to a world average of 1.5 percent. All these factors lead to a clear conclusion that Arab countries with almost no exception have not invested enough in knowledge and research. Arab governments have wrongly decided that funding scientific research is not a priority. Although it is well known that development in science and technology is an important component for the global economic development. The media outlets, either written or visual, should play an important role in informing the society about the importance and the benefits of science in their daily life. This will also help private citizens make public actions by supporting scientific research. In industrialised countries, scientific research is not exclusively supported by the government but also by the private sector, private foundations and private citizens.
Is science given any importance at all, in this part of the world?
Once upon a time, the Arab world was the leader in science and Arab scientists have established and help shaped the foundation for science and medicine. Just to cite a few names: Avicenna, 980 to 1037; Averroes, 1126 to 1198 and many others. However, the current situation can simply be qualified as disastrous. There is a deep technology divide between the Arab world and the industrialised world because of the lack of support for science and technology in Arab countries, which has led to: marginalisation of developing Arab countries, making it hard for them to meet their basic needs and to participate in the global economy and manage the environment.
What is the most important step to be taken for the Arab world to recapture its lost glory in the fields of science?
The most important step in my opinion would be to invest in their human capital, through providing high quality education and well supported scientific research. In order to ensure high quality education there must be a vibrant research component developed as well. In addition, the focus of attention of policy makers and development agencies should be on the development of local capabilities to develop, adapt and use technologies. There is little or no technology development in the region.
How do we promote this?
Qatar foundation has just provided a very good example on how to promote technology development in the region. That is through the development of science and technology parks. S&T parks, if managed well, will help attract technology producers and investors. Let me just say that I was and still am delighted and honoured to be part of this historical event. Truly, what we have witnessed during the Arab expatriate scientists meeting in Doha, was in my opinion a revolution in the thinking of new strategies for the development of science and technology in the Arab world. Moreover, it is an initiative spearheaded by an Arab woman, which has added another dimension to this unique initiative. The meeting was a great success not simply in terms of excellent organisation, but mainly because of its outcome and declaration. The meeting declaration and action plan have generated great interest and high hopes for better success of this initiative.|
DR FAROUK El Baz, Member and Scientific Representative of the Founding Committee, talks to Qatar Today about the way forward for Arab Scientists.
Is the Arab world in general investing enough in knowledge and research? Which countries are particularly ahead and which need to work more on it?
The Arab world is way behind all other regions in investing in knowledge, except for Sub-Saharan Africa. This is shameful considering that only a half century ago, the Arab world was among the more developed regions. Furthermore the region is considered today one of the most oil-rich regions. The Gulf States have recognised this failing earlier than others, and some have initiated programmes to remedy the problem. In addition countries like Tunisia and Jordan have taken commendable steps in this regard.
Is Government investment enough to ensure research? How do you change the mindset of the citizens?
Government funds are never enough to satisfy the research needs. In reality, government funding should be spent on cutting edge basic research that is directed at the increase of knowledge. Research that is directed to solving problems of industry, agriculture and trade should be supported by the private sector. In the U.S.A. the private sector spends nearly twice as much as the government on scientific research.
What importance is given to science in the Arab world?
Unfortunately knowledge in general and science in particular are not given the importance they deserve. This is particularly sad because the Arab world remained the source of knowledge for 1,000 years. Today decision makers believe that scientific endeavours are the playing field of the rich countries in the West.
What is the most important step to be taken for the Arab world to recapture its lost glory in the fields of science?
The Arab world needs to first understand science and recognise the value of scientific research to the economy. When that is accomplished, scientists and researchers will be respected for their contributions and rewarded for their discoveries that add to the economic development of the country. The Doha conference was a bright spot in a bleak present of scientific research in the Arab world. It showed that a small country can elect to plan research in specifc fields to assure the success by establishing the required system, procedures, and budget to assure the success of the initiative. I left the conference with a very good feeling that not all is lost and there is hope in the future.
This article is reproduced with special permission from Qatar Today - Qatar's only news, business and lifestyle magazine
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