The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, revealed the Organization’s strategy to support scientific research and innovation in the Islamic world.

According to Dr. AlMalik, the fourfold strategy seeks to overcome the challenges and problems facing most universities and research centers in the ICESCO Member States, namely the production of quality papers accepted for publishing globally and patent-writing strategies.

The statements were part of the DG address at the opening session of ICESCO’s Two-Day Workshop on Scientific Paper and Patent Writing, in partnership with the International University of Rabat (UIR), the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) in Morocco, and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Germany. The workshop witnessed large participation from academics and researchers from all over the world. ICESCO held the event face-to-face and virtually.

The training seeks to help academics and researchers to improve their performance and skills in scientific and patent writing and promote innovation and creativity in the Member States. ICESCO DG pointed out that the workshop is part of ICESCO’s new vision on science and technology. He stressed that ICESCO will spare no effort to promote science, scientific research, and innovation in the Member States through supporting cooperation between developed and developing countries in the three fields.

Regarding ICESCO’s strategy to overcome those challenges, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that ICESCO will:

1. Support innovative research by providing 300 scholarships to help researchers from the Member States to develop sustainable innovative solutions in science and technology;
2. Launch ICESCO Innovation Award for Best Innovation in Science and Technology in the Member States;
3. Develop a new comprehensive program on environmental innovation and green technology transfer in partnership with multiple stakeholders;
4. Launch a program for setting up and linking incubators and technology clusters in the ICESCO Member States.

The DG stated that ICESCO is willing to ensure more cooperation with international partners, research centers, and universities inside and outside the Islamic world to achieve the objectives of the Organization’s strategy for scientific research and innovation in the Islamic world. The objectives can be achieved, Dr. AlMalik added, through sharing best practices among the Member States and learning from other parties’ privileges to help set up a mechanism for regional assistance and integration in capacity-building.