International Workshop on
S&T Statistics and Policy Making
(5th-7th May 2009, Islamabad)

Background:

Pakistan Council for Science & Technology (PCST) is mandated to provide policy advice to the Government of Pakistan on matters related to S&T development in the country. As such, it acts as a think tank for the Ministry of Science and Technology. PCST also conducts futuristic studies on various S&T related issues to support planning, evaluation and promotion of S&T in the country.

In 2007, Pakistan Council for Science & Technology (PCST) organized a two-day National Workshop on ‘S&T Statistics: International Practices and their Applications’ at Islamabad. It was the first venture of its kind and its interactive nature was primarily aimed at the establishment of an improved data management system between various stakeholders. The workshop was attended by 67 participants from over 26 academic institutions and R&D organizations. The feedback from the workshop participants indicated a need for holding similar workshops at international level.

Current Workshop:

Statistical information is essential for understanding and appreciating the key contribution of Science & Technology within knowledge-based economies. Quantitative indicators based on these statistics help measure, monitor and bench mark the performance of S&T system in advanced countries. Many, however, question whether this yardstick has equal relevance to the less developed countries. This workshop was meant to look at recent trends and key advantages of the applications of these indicators to S&T policy making within developing countries.

With increased sophistication in the art of data handling, a set of international routines and practices have to be established for a uniform flow of information, both at a national as well as international level. With this in view, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST) which is the apex organization in Pakistan involved in S&T policy research, decided to organize this Workshop.

Objectives:

One of the major objectives of the workshop was to enhance local capacity for the production of S&T indicators and their use in evidence based S&T policy making. The workshop also aimed at promoting closer collaboration and sharing experiences among the participating countries in this discipline. The effects of local socio-cultural aspects on the formulation / implementation of the S&T policy was another topic of interest.

Participating Countries:

Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Oman, Sudan, Turkey and Pakistan (host)

Finances:

Round trip airfare (economy class) and local hospitality (boarding and lodging) was provided to all participants. Government of Pakistan through the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology financed the Workshop. Partial financial support from ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is gratefully acknowledged.

Inaugural Session:

Mr. Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Minister for Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan was the Chief Guest for the Inaugural Session. Speaking at the occasion, the honourable Minister congratulated Pakistan Council for Science and Technology and ISESCO for organizing the workshop on such an important and critical topic. He enlightened the audience with his vision for development of S&T in the country in particular and within the Muslim Ummah in general. He emphasized the need to strike a balance in the basic and applied research in the country. He also indicated the problem of limited resources available to Pakistan and emphasized the importance of public-private partnership to encourage S&T development. He expressed his hope that the Muslim Ummah will rekindle its rich tradition of innovative science and technology from earlier centuries.

Dr. Abbas Sadri, Director ISESCO Regional Office, Tehran in his inaugural address highlighted the efforts undertaken by ISESCO in promotion and development of Science and Technology within the Muslim countries. He hoped that the workshop would attain its objectives and will help promote closer collaboration among the participating countries.

Dr. Tariq-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology during his welcome address emphasized the need for closer collaboration and sharing of experiences among the Islamic countries. He also thanked the participants, especially the international delegates for coming to Pakistan at this time of global economic and security crises.

Dr. Tariq Mahmood, the Workshop Secretary presented brief overview of the aim and objectives of the workshop.


Technical Session 1: Chaired by Dr. Abbas Sadri, Director of ISESCO Regional Office in Tehran.

Dr. Tariq-ur-Rahman, Chairman Pakistan Council for Science and Technology in his presentation “S&T Statistics of Pakistan: A Country Report” deliberated about S&T system of Pakistan. He explained some of the important S&T indicators pertinent to S&T manpower and expenditure. He also showed comparisons of Pakistan with different countries in terms of number of researchers and R&D expenditure as percentage of GDP.

Dr. Arabella Bhutto from Mehran University Institute of Science and Technology Development (MUISTD) presented her talk on “Identifying S&T Indicators for the S&T Policy in Pakistan by Entering in a New Science, Technology and Innovation Paradigm”. She discussed STI indicators with special emphasis on innovation indicators based upon OECD system. She also suggested some new S&T indicators to be used in policy making in developing countries.

Prof. M. Galal Mohamed Ahmed from National Centre for Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, Sudan spoke on the Status and Financing of Science and Technology in Sudan. He described financial allocation procedures in the country.

Dr. Jaber Mohammad Al-Bodour and Dr. Mohammad Issa Al-Shahateet from Princes Sumaya University of Technology, Jordan, jointly presented their paper “Statistics of Science and Technology in JORDAN: Present Status and Future Prospects”. The speakers discussed important aspects of S&T statistics in Jordan. They also described NIS of their country, and also provided some policy recommendations for the development of S&T in Jordan.


Technical Session 2: Chaired by Dr. Sheikh Riazuddin, Director Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan.

Dr. Nasser Ali Azimi, Department of Economics and Science, Iran, in his presentation “S&T Data Collection and Management System in Iran” highlighted the importance of S&T indicators for policy making and planning. He also presented current S&T policies in Iran and discussed some important related indicators.

Prof. Mohammad Subhi Abu Saleh, Amman Arab University, Jordan, made a presentation regarding Statistical Indicators used in Policy Making in Jordan. He explained the role of S&T indicators in policy making and described the role of Department of Statistics in data collection and management in Jordan.

Dr. Nabiel Saleh, National Research Centre, Egypt, presented his work “S&T Indicators in the Arab States” in which he described the system of S&T data collection of Arab States with reference to ALESCO, ISESCO and UNESCO. He also indicated problems and bottle necks encountered during this process.

Mr. Hassan N. Zaidi from Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan discussed the role of digital library established by HEC for improvement of S&T knowledge. He linked the establishment of digital library with the increased number of publications by Pakistani researchers in international journals.


Technical Session 3: Chaired by Dr. Nabiel Saleh from National Research Centre, Egypt.

Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, Executive Director Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in his talk “Engagement in International Collaboration as a Measure of S&T Capacity” described the possible role of international collaboration for the development of Science and Technology in the South and also emphasized the need for policy interventions by the governments of developing nations in this regard. He gave examples of international collaboration involving IAEA, ICTP, ICGEP. He also explained the role of COMSATS in international collaboration for developing countries.

Dr. S.T.K. Naim, Consultant, Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), presented a talk on “Public Policy and Globalization”. She described the impact of globalization on developing nations with special emphasis on technology development and acquisition. She also discussed the role of FDI in technology transfer. She was of the opinion that there is a strong need for building knowledge based economies to cope the challenges of globalization.

Dr. Gholam Ali Montazer from Iran, in his presentation “The Role of Information Technology Parks in National Innovation System: Case Study of Iran's IT Parks” talked about various phases of evolution of NIS in Iran with a major focus on the importance of IT Parks towards the improvement of performance of NIS.


Technical Session 4: Chaired by Dr. Ghulam Ali Montazer from Iran.

Dr. M. M. Qurashi and Mr. A. Q. Kazi from Pakistan Academy of Sciences made a joint presentation about the “Islamic Socio-Cultural Aspects in Relation to Development and Execution of S&T Plans and Policies”. The speakers deliberated upon the perception of people about the importance of S&T as individuals as well as societies. They also talked about the progress and down fall of Islamic societies in terms of scientific knowledge in historical perspective.

Mr. Ahmed Nadeem Siddiqui from National Institute of Electronics, Pakistan, made a presentation about the “Problems and Remedies of S&T Organizations”. He described the process of project management and discussed the problems involved in execution of the projects. He also emphasized the role of management and leadership for the successful implementation of the projects.

Mr. Ahmet PEMBEGUL from Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK), talked abut the “TÜBITAK’s Technology and Innovation Funding Programs. After giving the background information about TUBITAK, Mr. Ahmet described important S&T areas for the purpose of funding of the projects. He also discussed the role of public private partnerships for development. His major focus was on the process of evaluation and monitoring of the projects.

Mr. Ahmed Yahya Khan, Director, Statistics Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, presented a talk “Statistics on Higher Education as Indicator of Policy Making” in which he deliberated upon the importance of higher education statistics in context of policy and planning. He also pointed out major causes of poor quality of statistics.


Technical Session 5: Chaired by Dr. Mohammad Issa Al-Shahateet from Princes Sumaya University of Technology, Jordan.

Ms. Jasmine Aslan from Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) made a presentation about “National Science and Technology Human Resources Strategic Plan for Turkey”. She described Vision 2023 policy document and described major thrust S&T areas in Turkey. She emphasized the development of HR for R&D for Turkey. She also informed about the enhancement of Turkish R&D budget by 2% within next few years.

Prof. Awad Mahgob Atta Almanan, Animal and Research Cooperation, Ministry of Science & Technology, Sudan, in his presentation “National Strategic Planning Science and Technology Research Strategy” described S&T planning in Sudan in historical perspective. His emphasis was on comprehensive national strategy of the country. He also discussed some indicators regarding human resources in different areas of S&T in Sudan.

Mr. Khalid Islam, Chairman Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research presented a “Review of National Science & Technology Policy in the Light of National Quality Policy & Plan”. Mr. Khalid described the importance of quality of products by industrial sector especially for export. He described various elements of national quality policy and plan and its linkages with S&T Vision 2020 wherein the quality of products has been identify as a major factor of concern. He recommended that there is strong requirement for synchronizing S&T policy with national quality policy and plan.

Ms. Sharifa bint Hamoud Al-Harthiya and Ms. Kauthar bint Ibrahim Al-Balushia from the Research Council of Oman made a joint presentation about the “National S&T Database System for the Sultanate of Oman as Part of the Research Council Federated Access Management System”. After describing the objectives and functions of the Research Council of Oman, they discussed in detail the federated access management system which links all research institutions in Oman with respect to S&T database. They informed that mostly the indicators are built upon UNESCO criteria, however, some indicators are also developed according to the local requirements.

Dr. Shaukat Hayat Khan from National Institute of Oceanography of Pakistan talked about the “Latest Trends in the Art and Concept of Marine/ Oceanographic Data Management”. Dr. Shaukat, in his presentation justified the importance of marine data and described its applications in the field of Oceanography. He also described the challenges faced by developing countries with respect to management of marine data. Finally, he gave recommendations to improve the information of marine data management system in Pakistan.


Concluding Session:

Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Affairs and Chairperson Higher Education Commission (HEC), was the Chief Guest at the concluding session of the Workshop. In her address, she emphasized the importance of statistical data for decision making. She praised the efforts of Pakistan Council for Science and Technology for organizing the Workshop on this important issue. She also appreciated ISESCO for helping PCST in this regard.

Mrs. Asia Nasir, Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Technology speaking on the occasion, assured that she and Minister for Science and Technology are committed for the development of Science and Technology in the country.

Dr. Abbas Sadri, Director of ISESCO Regional Office in Tehran, in his address, expressed complete satisfaction with the proceedings of the workshop.

Dr. Jaber Mohammad Al-Bodour from Jordan and Dr. Nabiel Saleh from Egypt, speaking on the behalf of the participants, expressed their gratitude to PCST and ISESCO for providing them the opportunity to participate in this Workshop. They were of the view that the Workshop had provided a good opportunity to the participants to interact with experts from different countries and learn from each others experiences.

Dr. Tariq Mahmood, the Workshop Secretary while presenting a brief overview of the Workshop informed that 88 experts, including 13 foreign participants representing 6 countries and 67 local experts representing 36 organizations have participated in the Workshop.

At the end Dr. Tariq-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology offered a vote of thanks.

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Observations and Recommendations

During the 3 day workshop a lot of interest was generated with respect to different matters pertinent to the subject matter of the workshop. On the last day, a proforma was circulated among the participants for their views about the workshop. The participants gave a variety of suggestions and hoped that this workshop will open new avenues of cooperation among the Muslim nations in future with regard to the establishment of an effective S&T data management system and policy making process. Observations and recommendations given by the participants are summarized below.


Observations

The workshop theme was good and the presentations made during the workshop gave a good picture of the status of science and technology in participating Islamic countries. It is hoped that the Muslim countries will enhance collaboration in the field of science and technology as exchange of expertise and ideas is important.

The workshop was organized in a highly professional manner. Arrangements of the workshop were excellent and the environment as well as the level of discussions was very good. All the concerned personnel were congratulated and appreciated in this regard.

The workshop achieved its objectives as a good amount of S&T information and data was shared among the participating countries. Majority of the presentations were quite focused and shared thought provoking ideas among the problem areas of the Muslim Ummah.

PCST and ISESCO were thanked for organizing this useful and meaningful workshop.

This workshop will be useful for developing new indicators for formulating more appropriate S&T policies and S&T plans.

Most of the papers presented were very informative and thought provoking but few of the papers were not up to the mark.

The overall comments on the workshop are "very good". The participants have really contributed a lot and succeeded in taking the concentration of listeners. The workshop has really initiated a process of learning from each other and networking wherever seems feasible.

The workshop has provided an opportunity to interact with participants from different countries, share experiences and learn form each other.

Workshop has met the objectives successfully. It was well attended. Most of the presentations were interesting and added to the participants knowledge the problems and issues being faced by the Muslim world and S&T policies being followed by their governments.


Recommendations

This type of workshops / conferences provide good forum for useful inputs into the policy formulation, develop linkages with other countries in the region and open up opportunities of trainings and mutual collaboration. It is therefore, recommended that this kind of activities should be continued in future with regular intervals. However, it may be held in different countries of the region.

Workshop has made a very good effort to analyse the trends in R&D statistics, especially in Muslim World. It would have been better if more Muslim countries were invited to participate in the workshop. Participation of some advanced countries may also have been useful as it would have given opportunity to obtain their perspective.

There is a need to follow up the recommendations set by the workshop. Salient recommendations emerging out of the proceedings of this workshop may be forwarded to Ministry of Science and Technology.

There is a need to unify the definitions of S&T indicators to be used by member countries of OIC. Every country should try to develop a data source of all scientists and engineers. State of art situation on S&T potential of all the Muslim countries should be compiled for promoting awareness, collaboration and future planning of the Muslim world.

It would have been better if the full presentations / papers were made available to the participants on the first day of the workshop. The material should be made available on the website of PCST as it is good repository of useful information.

More Pakistani participants can make use of such workshops if the same are held on Saturdays and Sundays. Young professionals and students may be provided opportunities to attend these events.

PCST may collect the statistics / data on various aspects of S&T and compare those with the statistics / data related to the developed countries. This would help us in educating our policy makers and show them "REAL" state of affairs about our S&T and R&D standing.

It is suggested that next workshop should be conducted dealing more with strategies of science & technology and try to answer the question of 'how" instead of only "what". The next workshop may be on the topic of the “role of S&T in sustainable development” which was not touched upon in this workshop. The role of social and economic indicators in preparing S&T Policy may also be a potential topic of any future meeting.

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List of Participants

Sr#	Name of Participant	Name of Country
1	Dr. Jaber Mohammed Al-Bodour	Jordan
2	Dr. Mohammed Issa Shahateet	Jordan
3	Prof. Muhammad Subhi Abu Saleh	Jordan
4	Dr. Abbas Sadri	Iran
5	Dr. Nasser Ali Azimi	Iran
6	Dr. Gholam Ali Montazer	Iran
7	Dr. Nabiel Saleh	Egypt
8	Prof. M. Galal Mohamed Ahmed	Sudan
9	Prof. Awad Mahgoub Atta EL Mannan	Sudan
10	Ms. Yasemin ASLAN	Turkey
11	Mr. Ahmet PEMBEGUL	Turkey
12	Ms. Sharifa Hamoud Al-Harthy	Oman
13	Ms. Kauthar Ibrahim Ali Al-Belushi	Oman
14	Dr. M. M. Qureshi	Pakistan
15	Mr. A. Q. Qazi	Pakistan
16	Dr. S.T.K. Naim	Pakistan
17	Dr. Shaukat Hayat Khan	Pakistan
18	Mr. Khalid Islam	Pakistan
19	Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi	Pakistan
20	Mr. Ahmed Nadeem Siddiqui	Pakistan
21	Dr. Arabella Bhutto	Pakistan
22	Mr. Ahmad Yahya Khan	Pakistan
23	Mr. Hassan N. Zaidi	Pakistan
24	Dr. Tariq-ur-Rahman	Pakistan
25	Sheikh Riazuddin	Pakistan
26	Dr. S. Shakeel Raza	Pakistan
27	Dr. Riffat Ayesha Anis	Pakistan
28	Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Rajput	Pakistan
29	Prof. Dr. Ikram-ul-Haq	Pakistan
30	Prof. Dr. M. Younus Nadeem	Pakistan
31	Prof. Dr. Shahid Kamal	Pakistan
32	Dr. Rauf-i-Azam	Pakistan
33	Dr. Sarfraz Ahmad	Pakistan
34	Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Loan	Pakistan
35	Dr. Irshad Ahmad Arshad	Pakistan
36	Dr. Akbar Shah Mohmand	Pakistan
37	Dr. Aasim F. Khan	Pakistan
38	Dr. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah	Pakistan
39	Dr. Mutawarra Hussain	Pakistan
40	Air Cdre. (R) Salman Absar	Pakistan
41	Air Cdre. (R) Muhammad Ismail	Pakistan
42	Dr. N.D. Gohar	Pakistan
43	Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Khokhar	Pakistan
44	Dr. M. Inayat Khan	Pakistan
45	Mr. Sami-ud-Din	Pakistan
46	Engr. Shabbir Ahmed Qureshi	Pakistan
47	Mr. Kausar Aslam Pervaiz	Pakistan
48	Ms. Waqar-un-Nisa	Pakisan
49	Mr. Shaheen Raja	Pakistan
50	Mr. S.M. Tabrez	Pakisan
51	Mr. A. Inam	Pakistan
52	Mrs. Nuzhat Yasmin	Pakistan
53	Mr. M. Asif Masood Ghumman	Pakistan
54	Mr. Umar Sheraz	Pakistan
55	Mr. Ahmad Mahmood Tahir	Pakistan
56	Mr. Ali Shah	Pakistan
57	Mr. Zian-ul-Abedin	Pakistan
58	Mr. Tariq Munawar	Pakistan
59	Mr. Saqib Aleem	Pakistan
60	Mr. Asif Hanif	Pakistan
61	Rao Jamil-ur-Rehman	Pakistan
62	Engr. Qadir Hilal	Pakistan
63	Mr. Asad Baksh Awan	Pakistan
64	Dr. Khalid Khan	Pakistan
65	Dr. Sheikh Shahdin	Pakistan
66	Dr. Tariq Mahmood	Pakistan
67	Dr. Tariq Bashir	Pakistan
68	Mr. G.H.R. Baloch	Pakistan
69	Mr. Abdullah Gaddani	Pakistan
70	Mrs. Shireen Taj	Pakistan
71	Mr. Muhammad Arshad	Pakistan
72	Mr. Farid Bakhtiar	Pakistan
73	Mr. Sajjad Iqbal	Pakistan
74	Mr. Bilal Sadiq	Pakistan
75	Mrs. Sobia Sarwar	Pakistan
76	Mr. Muhammad Shahid	Pakistan
77	Mrs. Sadia Atif	Pakistan
78	Mrs. Farida Asif	Pakistan
79	Mr. Iqbal Yousaf	Pakistan
80	Mr. Rehmatullah	Pakistan
81	Mr. Shiraz Khalid	Pakisan
82	Mr. Shakeel Ahmed	Pakistan
83	Mr. Mohammad Bashir	Pakistan
84	Mr. Roohullah	Pakistan
85	Ms. Shagufta Shaheen	Pakistan
86	Mr. Noman Zia Khan	Pakistan
87	Mr. M. Tufail Ahmad Khan	Pakistan
88	Mr. Ibad ullah	Pakistan

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