Damascus - A workshop on science, technology and innovation indicators and information gathering and classification according to the international standards of the Frascati Manual kicked off on Saturday at Cham Hotel in Damascus.
The workshop focuses on methods for developing expertise in the field of international standards and practices in the aforementioned fields, in addition to underlining the importance of devising national strategies for building capabilities and training specialists in order to formulate science, technology and innovation policies in accordance with international standards.
Assistant Minister of Higher Education for Scientific Research Affairs Najib Abdelwahed pointed out to Syria's efforts in devising science, technology and innovation policies and promoting scientific research in universities and research establishments.
He underlined the scientific nature of the challenges facing the region's countries which call for building an integrated system for science, technology and innovation.
For his part, Secretary of the Syrian National Committee on Education, Culture and Science Nidal Hasan said that this workshop aims at enriching the expertise of participants, stressing the importance of cooperation between the Committee and specialized organizations in planning and carrying out programs for economic, social, cultural and educational development.
In turn, expert at the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Science Directorate Aicha Bamoune affirmed the importance of enhancing the scientific capabilities of researchers and decision-makers and the need to benefit from science, technology and innovation indicators in Arab countries, particularly in Syria which made positive steps in this field.
She underlined the need to use science, technology and innovation indicators to determine problems and obstacles and use the resulting date to develop Arab countries and create a network connecting them, all of which will serve to achieve sustainable development goals in the region.
For her part, Director of the Science Policy and Sustainable Development department at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Lidia Brito said that the workshop will train experts to build capabilities in Syria and the Arab region in the fields of science and technology.
She added that the UNESCO and the ISESCO are cooperating to organize training workshops in the fields of scientific research and statistics.
The workshop is organized by the Ministries of Education and Higher Education and the Syrian National Committee on Education, Culture and Science, in cooperation with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Cairo, and Canada Statistics.
Experts from UNESCO and ISESCO are participating in this three-day semi-regional workshop, in addition to representatives of scientific research centers, establishments and agencies and scientific councils from Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Iraq.
The first session of the workshop reviewed the policies and statistics of UNESCO and Arab countries, particularly scientific policies, their relation to indicators, in addition to comparing international data to Arab statistics.
The session tackled the growing interest in scientific research issues and the current directives towards them on local, regional and international levels.
Participants underlined how science, technology and innovation indicators can be used to formulate successful strategies that improve economy and the development process, noting that these indicators will help establish an information database to help train scientific research staff.
They also stressed the need for adopting unified definitions of science, technology and innovation indicators and establishing methods for identifying them.
The second session discussed the draft report of the Syrian National Committee on Education, Culture and Science for 2008/2009 which detailed scientific research indicators in Syria.
Participants in this session stressed the need to increase spending in the field of research, direct researchers towards national priorities, and provide a suitable research environment.
The session also tackled the statistics gathered by the Higher Council for Science and Technology in Jordan, in addition Jordan's expertise in cooperating with international organizations.
By H. Sabbagh
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
