A presentation delivered in 2004 at a conference in Saudi Arabia...I wonder..did anything change in the last 8 years?

1. CURRENT STATUS OF
RESEARCH IN THE ARAB
WORLD REGION
PROF. WALID MAANI
DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSURGERY
FACULTY OF MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF JORDAN
Saudi Medical Journal 25th Anniversary Event
2nd Regional Conference On Medical Journals In The Eastern
Mediterranean Region

2. STUDIES
 The Arab World’s Scientific Desert, Daniel Del
Castillo, The Chronicle of Higher Education,2004
 Research in the Who East Mediterranean Region,
where do we stand? Basim Yaqub, Saudi Medical
Journal,2004
 Brain Drain Threatens Future of Arab Science,
GCSS,2004
 Arab Human Development Report, UNDP,2003
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3. FACTS
 No Arab country spends more than 0.2% 0f its DNP on its
scientific research, the USA, Israel spend 10 times more.
 The Arab world spends $4 per person on research, whereas
it is $12,000 in the USA.
 Less than 25% of Arab university students study sciences.
 There are only 20 computers per 1,000 people in the Arab
world, with a global average of 78.
 Around 370 patents were registered in Arab countries in the
last 20 years, South Korea had 16,000 in the same period.
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4. FACTS
 Arab Universities spend 1% of their budget on research,
while USA universities spend 40%.
 There are 8,000 researchers in the Arab world, compared
to 400,000 in the USA.
 Around 10.000 books were translated into Arabic in the
last 1,000 years, Spain translates the same number each
year.
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5. FACTS
 Brain drain from the Arab world is 30% of developing
countries drain to the west.
 45% of Arab students do not go back to their countries
after graduating abroad.
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6. What do famous Arab scientists-who
made it in a different environment- say?
 “The teaching of science in the Arab
world is a disaster right now”. Farouk el
Baz
 “Availability of funding, resources,
encouragement, the environment
and the want to achieve were major
factors in making me what I am”. Ahmad
Zewail
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7. What Do Officials and Organizations in
the Arab World Say?
 “The crisis facing the region is real and very serious and
the road is long, that’s why Arab nations should double
their efforts to further development” Amr Mousa
 “If the 10.000 Egyptian who work abroad in the medical
and biotechnology sector come back, it would be enough
to start a technological revolution in Egypt” Kamel Gouda
 “In the sciences, not only is Arab production very limited,
but also what is produced is often irrelevant” Reema
Khalaf
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8. Is It True?
 Dr. Abdus Salam, was asked, "What
happened to Islamic Science?" He
replied "Nothing. What we cultivated in
Isfahan and Cordoba is now being
cultivated in MIT, Caltech and at
Imperial College, London. Its just a
geographical translation of place."
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9. Why Are We In The Situation That We Are
In?
 Is it that we have more important concerns than
science and scientific research?
 Is it that we have the resources to buy the products of
science, so why bother trying to create them?
 Is it that, even if we wanted, we do not have the
capability to conduct research?
 Is it that our educational systems are not geared to
produce the human power capable of conducting
research?
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10. Is It Correct To Say?
 Unless the educational system in schools is changed to
critical thinking, we will continue to produce students who
copy but not think?
 Unless the university instructional methods are changed to
emphasize self learning and research, the university
graduate will not differ from a high school student?
 Unless promotion of university staff is tied to quality
research published in international journals, the role of
universities in development will remain meager?
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11. Is It Correct To Say?
 Unless the universities’ research be part of the national
development plan, then all efforts will be fragmented and
non-relevant?
 Unless the sabbatical leaves granted by universities are
spent in actual monitored research in recognized labs,
then it is a waste of time and money to grant the leaves.
 Unless the right environment for research is created, then
we will continue to lament our bad fortune?
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12. Is It Correct To Say?
 That the Arab private sector still posses the mentality of
the street vendor, who wants to earn as much to take
home?
 That our reliance on “foreign experts” did not give a
chance to our experts to prove their capabilities?
 That our political fragmentation, reflected it self on the
lack of joint major research projects?
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13. Since We Know All Of This, What Shall
We Do To rectify The Situation?
A six track policy should be adopted nationally and regionally
 Reform the school educational system.
 Reform the university systems.
 Involve research institutions in the national development plans.
 Involve the private sector in research and its finance.
 Allocate more resources to research.
 Create inter-Arab scientific research bodies.
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14. But All of Us Know This
The following major reports diagnosed the problems and
suggested the solutions:
 The final communiqué of the meeting of the Arab
ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research
held in Cairo 24th -27th, Dec. 2001
 The Final communiqué of the International Arab
Conference on Information Technology, held in Jordan
13th - 15th Nov. 2001
 The UNDP, Arab Human Development Report, 2003
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15. But, was enough done to remedy the
situation?
THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS NO
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16. Steps taken, which should be emulated,
and supported
 The creation of the Arab Science and Technology
Foundation.
 The imposition, through legislation, on companies in
certain Arab countries of R&D allocation as a
percentage of their annual profits.
 The creation of pan-Arab scientific journals.
 The shy steps of networking in certain professional
groups.
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