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Published on 16 September 2011 in SciDev.Net
Plans for science collaboration in the Muslim world aren’t working and need a major revamp, says Athar Osama.
As SciDev.Net’s Islam Analysis reaches its first year of publication, it is a good time to reflect on the major themes in science development — and politics — in the Islamic world.
We have covered the need for a science vision within countries in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and collaboration among them; the role and purpose of science diplomacy — particularly, US president Barack Obama’s science initiative towards the Islamic world; and the need for a social contract for science.
But so far, the story of science and innovation in OIC countries is one of missed targets and dashed expectations. And fundamental questions have now arisen about the purpose of OIC’s science project, in particular about the role of cooperation.
If it isn’t working, despite the best efforts of those involved, policymakers must be doing something wrong — and trying to do more of the same is unlikely to deliver. To change course, they may need to go back to the drawing board on cooperation.
Collaboration: struggling for take-off
In the last decade, several Muslim countries —Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — have renewed their investment in higher education and scientific research.
But even as budgets increase, there has not been a sea change in the quantity or the nature of scientific activity in OIC science collaboration.
A number of initiatives created to spark collaboration are struggling to take off and make a meaningful impact, such as a pan-Islamic science fund and the Science Technology and Innovation Organisation (STIO).
By: Athar Osama
Published on 15 July 2011 in SciDev.Net
Islamic nations should form a ‘forward bloc’ united by a vision of science for development to reverse a poor record of collaboration, argues Athar Osama.
For many years, science leaders at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have faced a rather lethargic response from member states to the activities and calls for funding of its Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH).
In an effort to establish a coalition of countries committed to scientific collaboration, last year they set up the Science, Technology and Innovation Organisation (STIO) as...
By: Ekmeludin Ihsanoglu, The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Excerpts from a Speech delivered American University of Sharjah
The subject of Science and the faith, particularly the Islamic faith, has been close to my own academic interests for many years. It has been a personal interest of mine to conduct and encourage scholarship on Islam and the History of Science and to explore the debates between science and faith in the context of modern life. I hope that this meeting will provide opportunities to explore these issues and many others over the coming days.
Perhaps unlike some other belief systems Islam and science have had a remarkab...
A diplomatic silence or conference fatigue may not be unique to OIC member countries. But what aggravates matters in the Islamic World is that alternate fora to promote a culture of open, vigorous, and critical debate are weak, at best...The Islamic world needs new mechanisms that enable leaders to interact informally and share scientific knowledge, argues Athar Osama.
By: Frank Lehner
Published in Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy on 30 August 2011.
The idea of generating solar energy on a large scale in the sun-intensive countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to satisfy their own increasing energy demand and to export surplus energy to Europe as advocated in the DESERTEC concept1 has publicly received much attention in some countries, particularly in Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and also substantial support from their governments. Besides the DESERTEC Foundation, an industrial consortium (Dii GmbH) was founded in 2009 which consists of major European and MENA companies to push this project further b...
By: Dr. Athar Osama
Muslim-Science.Com met with Tan Sri Dr. Omar Abdur Rahman, Mahathir’s Science Advisor for over a decade and half and, the “prime mover” behind Mahathir Mohammed’s vision of a Knowledge-driven Malaysia. A deeply humble man, Tan Sri Omar insists that Mahathir was a science policymaker par excellence in his own right and that he would hardly have needed a science advisor. However, he played a critical role in providing scientific credibility to Mahathir’s plans and helping the Prime Minister reach out to the scientific community to build support for his policies.
As Malaysia’s first and longest serving Science Advisor – a position t...
