Few moments
ago at the headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (ICESCO), six strategic workshops kicked off at the start
of the second day of the Future Forum, co-organized by ICESCO and the German
Conrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS). The opening ceremony and the four working
sessions, which took place yesterday, were attended by a large audience.
The
workshops span diverse themes, namely: “Education: Major trends”; “Culture:
Need for intercultural dialogue”; “Sciences: Future challenges”; “Artificial
Intelligence: Towards ethical technology in the service of societies”; “Human
and Social Sciences: Development and Foresight”; and “Future literacy
laboratory”.
These
workshops brought together an elite of renowned experts in the fields relevant
to the themes of the workshops, along with interested attendees and university
students, Moroccans and foreign students. The Forum closing session will start
after the workshops.
Yesterday’s
opening session featured the addresses of Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director
General of ICESCO, Mr. Said Amzazi,
Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education
and Scientific Research of the Kingdom of Morocco, Dr. Hatem Ben Salem,
Minister of Education and Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific
Research of the Republic of Tunisia, and Mr. Steffen Krüger, Representative of KAS
in Morocco.
The working
sessions, which followed the opening ceremony, addressed four themes: “Foresight
by 2040”; “Future Literacy”; “Positioning Artificial Intelligence in its Right
Perspective”; and “the Future of Sciences”. These sessions were attended by a
large audience which interacted with the speakers.
A delegation from the Islamic World
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) composed of Mr.
Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to
Director General, and Mr. Bilel Chebbi, Programme Specialist at the Directorate
of Culture, in Tashkent, held a coordination meeting with officials from the
Uzbek Ministry of Culture on the celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s
Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020.
The meeting centered on the
arrangements to be made to implement the programmes of the celebration. In this
regard, the Uzbek officials invited Dr.Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director
General, to visit Uzbekistan and attend the official launch of its ceremony.
They also lauded the new start ushered in by ICESCO just after the adoption by
the 40th session of Executive Council (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 29-30 January
2020) of the Organization’s New Strategic Vision and expressed their country’s
willingness to contribute to the Development Waqf Fund launched to ensure
sustainable funding of programmes and projects.
In addition, the two parties agreed
to establish a global forum on Islamic civilization in Bukhara, Tashkent, and
Samarkand, and invite several culture ministers and intellectual and cultural
figures from the Islamic and beyond to attend the launch of the Celebration.
They also suggested to set up a ICESCO Chair on Imam Al Bukhari at the University of
al-Qarawiyyin to be funded by Uzbekistan.
In another vein, the meeting focused
on the inscription of many heritage sites and elements of tangible and
intangible heritage in Uzbekistan on the Islamic World Heritage List (IWHL) and
examine the organization of an international conference on the role of
translation in bringing cultures together and a training workshop in Uzbekistan
for the staff working in the field of heritage.
Next, ICESCO delegation visited the construction site of the Center of Islamic Civilization and, at the request of the Center’s director, provided some suggestions relevant to the design of the exhbition space of the the manuscript of Uthman Quran and the exhibition galleries of purchased artifacts and the history of Islamic civilization. The Center will be inaugurated at the close of the Celeberation.
The first day’s sessions
of ICESCO Future Forum, which kicked off today at the headquarters of the Islamic
World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reached great
momentum, as it covered the following
themes: “Foresight by 2040”; “Future Literacy”; “Positionning
Artificial Intelligence in its right perspective”; and “The Future of Sciences”.
The first session, held under the theme “Foresight by 2040”,
was moderated by Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center of Strategic
Foresight, and features the respective presentations of Mr. Sobhi Tawil, Head
of Foresight in the Education Sector at UNESCO; Ms. Sandra Coulibaly Leroy,
Assistant Director for Intelligence, Assessment and Foresight at the OIF; and Prof.
Ted Fuller, UNESCO Chair on Responsible Foresight for Sustainable Development,
who gave a presentation on the need to reconsider foresight in light of the
necessity to have an ethical framework.
Other speakers also gave presentations at the first session,
namely Ms. Manon Raclot, Director in charge of the prospective practice within
YouMeO; Mr. Koffi Kouakou, Foresight expert and philosopher from South Africa,
who talked about the geographical aspect of dealing with foresight; Dr. Pierre
Marcel Rossel, anthropologist; and Dr. Saly Mohamed Mabrouk, Expert in organizational
excellence and future shaping.
The second session revolved around the theme “Future Literacy”
and was moderated by Mr. Riel Miller, Head of Futures Literacy, UNESCO, and
featured presentations by the following speakers: Ms. Damhof Loes, Senior
Lecturer Futures literacy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands;
Dr. Claudia Baisini from Cambridge University; Ms. Kwamou Eva Feukeu from
UNESCO; the researcher Ms. Jessica Kim Bland; Dr. Fred Carden, Director of
Using Evidence Inc.; and Mr. Samir Benmakhlouf, Founder and Managing Director,
London Academy Casablanca, Former CEO of Microsoft Morocco.
Under the theme “Positionning Artificial Intelligence in its right
perspective”, the third session was moderated by Ms. Sasha Rubel, Programme
Specialist, Knowledge Societies Division, Communication and Information Sector
at UNESCO. This session included six presentations by the following speakers: Mr.
Sidi Ali Maelainin, Corporate Citizenship Manager for IBM in North Africa; Ms.
Niki Iliadis, Senior AI Policy Researcher and Program Manager at The Future Society;
Ms. Pauline Noiseau, Coordinator at Algora Lab; Dr. Rim Faiz, Professor at IHEC
Carthage; Mr. Hichem Iraqi Houssaini, Director General of Microsoft Morocco;
and Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Director of Legal Affairs at ICESCO.
The last session dealt with the theme of “The Future of
Sciences” and was moderated by Prof. Najla Bouden Romdhane, National
Coordinator of the Tertiary Education for Employability (TEEP) Project at the
Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Research. It featured the
participation of Ms. Zineb Iraqi, Supervisor of the Center of Planning, Statistics
and Assessment at ICESCO; Prof. Hanan Issa Malkawi, Professor at the Department
of Biological Sciences at Yarmouk University, Jordan; Prof. Ghada Mohamed Amer,
Vice Dean for Postgraduate and Research, Benha University / Vice-President of
Arab Science and Technology Foundation; and Prof. Farida Khammar, representing ICESCO
Chair in Algeria.
As for the second day, six strategic workshops will handle
the theme “Horizon 2040”, namely “Education: Major trends”; “Culture: Need for
intercultural dialogue; Sciences: Future challenges”; “Artificial Intelligence:
Towards ethical technology in service of societies”; “Human and social sciences:
Development and Foresight”; and “Future literacy laboratory”. The workshops
will be held at the same time, from 9:00 am. to 12:30 pm., followed by the
Forum’s closing ceremony.
The opening session of the Future Forum, which kicked off on Monday at the
headquarters of ICESCO in Rabat, brought together a large number of officials, members
of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco, most prominent
experts of strategic foresight and artificial intelligence, and students.
The session was opened by Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Centre of Strategic
Foresight at ICESCO. He welcomed the forum’s guests, representing an elite of
experts in strategic foresight, working at major international organizations, in
prestigious universities, and in government institutions, stressing the
importance of the issues to be discussed at the forum over two days.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, emphasized that the Organization
has taken upon itself, as part of its new vision, to make future building one
of its main pillars, noting that the Organization seeks to entrench the thought
of strategic foresight in youth groups, through holding training workshops or
providing schools and training grants in coordination with centers of strategic
foresight.
Moreover, Dr. AlMalik revealed
that ICESCO has started preparing for an important conference to be held in
June, that will be devoted to the theme of “Tomorrow’s Professions”, warning that “if we fail to anticipate the future now, we will chain ourselves in
the dungeons of the past and dash our hopes for joining the ranks of
developed countries.”
In his address, Mr. Said Amzazi, Minister of National Education, Vocational
Training, Higher Education and Research of the Kingdom of Morocco, took the floor
and congratulated ICESCO Director General on the comprehensive reform taking
place in the Organization, and on the Organization’s new vision adopted by the
40th session ISESCO Executive Council, held by Abu Dhabi, UAE, on 29
and 30January 2020. He also reaffirmed the continued support of the
Kingdom of Morocco to the Organization to fully discharge its role and achieve the
peoples Islamic world ambitions in the fields of education, science and
culture, and support it in its new start to become a beacon of global outreach
in its fields of competence.
He added that in a world dominated by globalization and economic and social
changes, it is imperative for all of us to look forward, pointing out that
Morocco experienced profound structural transformations that called for the
promotion of foresight studies. In this regard, Dr. Amzazi added that the
government has formulated a vision to develop the system of education and
scientific training in Morocco through a comprehensive set of initiatives, such
as establishing new schools, and promoting justice and equal opportunities.
Then, Dr. Hatem ben Salem, Minister of Education and Acting Minister of
Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Tunisia, delivered an address
in which he indicated that the world has experienced in recent decades positive
and negative changes, such as the digital revolution, the increasing advocacy
for human rights, the disappearance of dozens of conventional professions, and the
emergence of new ones. Facing all these massive challenges, Dr. ben Salim
stated, our societies have no other choice but to take advantage of these changes
in technology and sciences.
He added that benefiting from these changes requires accurate knowledge of
the needs and the goals of our societies, and the adoption of foresight
approach that meets these needs, noting that artificial intelligence has become
one of the most important goals (SDGs) that help us to achieve and create
opportunities for the strategic approach, and enable us to achieve the Sustainable
Development, and contribute to combating diseases and fight illiteracy.
Steffen Krueger, the representative
of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in the Kingdom of Morocco, praised the continued
cooperation between ICESCO and the Foundation, and stressed the importance of
the Forum’s theme, especially that foresight allows access to future scenarios
to be able to deal with them in the most appropriate way.
He underscored the urgent need for developing societies, especially in Africa, to adopt strategic anticipation as an essential tool in shaping their future policies, calling on the audience to listen to the guests and enrich the discussion for maximum benefit from the Forum.
The Director
General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, stated that the Organization has taken upon
itself, as part of its new vision, to make of future building one of its
pillars. To this end, Dr. AlMalik added, it established the Center for
Strategic Foresight to develop its action mechanisms, upgrade its executive
plans, provide the necessary expertise and support to competent authorities in
the Islamic world and step up their performance to keep pace with future
challenges.
In his
address at the opening session of ICESCO Future Forum which kicked off at
ICESCO headquarters today, ICESCO Director General highlighted that the
Organization committed itself to entrenching foresight thought in the youth
through holding training sessions and providing school or training grants, in
coordination with international foresight centers.
Moreover,
Dr. AlMalik revealed that ICESCO initiated preparations for a very important
conference in June on the theme “Tomorrow’s Professions”, while pointing out
that foresight is a novel field ICESCO intends, as part of its new vision, to
further explore and an industry of strategic thought whose findings will contribute
to building a brighter future for the Islamic world.
“If we fail
to anticipate the future now, we will chain ourselves in
the dungeons of the past and dash our hopes for joining the ranks of
developed countries. These countries owe their progress to the findings of
anticipatory studies of present and future changes in all the fields of
development”, Dr. AlMalik warned. He added that these countries used these
findings to develop their strategies based on sound forward-looking thought
away from random predictions that are not scientifically founded.
In another
vein, ICESCO Director General said foresight is the best way to preserve and
consolidate human gains, as specialized studies have proved that in order for
peoples to progress and civilization to flourish they need to consider and
reflect on their future based on a scientific approach, through the analysis of
data and past and present gains to predict their medium and long-term prospects.
“Foresight
does not at all mean waiting for change to happen in order to interact with its
consequences. It rather entails monitoring and interacting effectively and
proactively to effect the desired change. Looking back on the experiences of
leading nations in today’s world, we realize that their civilizational
resurgence was made possible thanks to their solid foundations of foresight
thought, which proved to be the most efficient way to address future challenges
and measure their compatibility or incompatibility with the available
capacities”. He added that such thought allows for investing and adapting the
said capacities with the current situation, or monitoring them to prevent any
negative impact on the future of individuals and societies.
In this
vein, ICESCO Director General provided examples of the results of this
strategic foresight approach achieved at world level, namely the practical
proposals to address the challenge of climate change risks and curb global
warming. These include reducing CO2 emissions to around 45% by 2030 and to “net
zero” by 2050; and monitoring the rise of sea level. He added that the same
approach to the challenges posed by digital transition and smart technologies
in the economic and business fields in preparation for the fourth industrial
revolution reaffirms that 64% of global corporations are aware that their
employees lack the necessary skills for digital transition but only 16% of
these companies have action plans to address the issue.
At the close of his address, ICESCO Director General expressed his thanks and appreciation to all the attending officials and experts and to Konrad Adenauer Foundation for their support in the preparation for the first edition of the conference.
Moments ago, the
headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (ICESCO) saw the opening of ICESCO Future Forum, which is
organized by ICESCO, in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation.
The Forum brought together more than 30 renowned experts in strategic foresight and artificial intelligence (AI)
from all over the world.
The opening session includes the respective addresses of Dr.
Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General; Mr. Steffen Krüger, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Foundation Representative in Morocco; Dr. Hatem Ben Salem, Minister of
Education and Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of
the Republic of Tunisia; and Mr. Said Amzazi, Minister of National Education, Vocational
Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The opening of the Forum saw wide participation including
high-level experts, diplomats, media professionals and students. After the opening session, the
two-day Forum will include the following four sessions: “Foresight by 2040”; “Future
Literacy”; “Positionning Artificial Intelligence in its right perspective”; and
“The Future of Sciences”.
As for the second day, six strategic workshops will handle the theme “Horizon 2040”, namely “Education: Major trends”; “Culture: Need for intercultural dialogue; Sciences: Future challenges”; “Artificial Intelligence: Towards ethical technology in service of societies”; “Human and social sciences: Development and Foresight”; and “Future literacy laboratory”.
The Director General of the Islamic
World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M.
AlMalik, along with several officials from the Organization, met with Dr. Ramazan
Abdulatipov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to OIC, and his
accompanying delegation to explore cooperation prospects between ICESCO and
Russia, ICESCO Observer Member, in the fields of education, science and
culture.
At the outset of the meeting held at
ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik welcomed the visiting delegation to
which he reaffirmed that the Organization’s new vision promotes openness to and
cooperation with all world’s countries in the Organization’s fields of competence
for the benefit of Member States and Muslim communities in Non-Member States.
He added that the vision seeks to ensure that Observer States play a larger
role in the action of the Organization, which ushered in a new stage toward the
attainment of this objective; and transmit the true image of the Islamic
civilization and culture that promote world peace, hence its new modified name
“Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”.
By the same token, ICESCO Director
General stated that cooperation with the Russian Federation, as an ICESCO
Observer Member, is of paramount importance, thanks to the outstanding
relations between Russia and the Islamic world and Russia’s progress in the
areas of higher education, scientific research and new technologies and long-standing
culture which tremendously contributed to human civilization. In this regard,
Dr. AlMalik pointed out that ICESCO is ready to inscribe some Islamic historic
sites in Russia on the Islamic World Heritage List (IWHL) which now includes
140 sites from 23 countries.
For his part, Dr. Abdulatipov lauded
the new vision and its openness and the progress being made by the
Organization, while expressing his delight at the meeting and the steps to be
taken to coordinate the development of cooperation between Russia and ICESCO in
its fields of competence and foster relations with Islamic world countries.
In addition, Dr. Abdulatipov underlined that
cooperation between Russia and ICESCO can cover higher education, modern technologies
and strategic foresight given the large number of Russian scientific centers
operating in the field of sustainable development and cultural fields, while
reaffirming his commitment to give shape to this cooperation.
Several ICESCO officials then took the
floor to stress the commitment of many sectors to cooperate with the Russian
Federation and reach out to Russian technical experts to hold future meetings
to agree on best modalities of cooperation. Mr. Valerian Shuvaev, Ambassador
Plenipothentiary and Extraordinary of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of
Morocco, reaffirmed that the Embassy will follow up the work with ICESCO to
coordinate cooperation.
The meeting was attended from the
Russian side by Mr.Vassili Tchetchine, Advisor to the Russian Embassy to
Morocco, Director of the Russian Cultural Center in Rabat, and Ms. Alina
Danilova, Third Secretary at the Embassy.
In attndance from ICESCO were Dr.
Ahmed Said Bah, Director of Extrenal Relations and Cooperation; Mr. Najib
Rhiati, Director of Culture; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center of
Strategic Foresight; Dr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Chief of the Department of Legal
Affairs; Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of the Division of Dialogue and
Cultural Diversity; Ms. Zineb Iraqi, Supervisor of the Center of Planning,
Statistics and Assessment; Mr. Samy El Kamhawy, Supervisor of the Center of
Communication; and Ms. Rime Jirari, Programme Specialist at the Directorate of
External Rlations and Cooperation.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik,
Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (ICESCO), met with Mr. Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
International Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco, today,
at the headquarters of the Moroccan Foreign Ministry to explore cooperation
relations between the Organization and the Kingdom in the fields of education,
science and culture.
During this meeting, Dr.
AlMalik expressed his thanks to the Kingdom of Morocco, represented in His
Majesty King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan Government, for their sustained
support for ICESCO. He also reviewed with Mr. Bourita the key themes of
ICESCO’s new vision, which was adopted, along with its relevant decisions, by
the 40th session of ICESCO Executive Council, held in Abu Dhabi,
UAE, on 29-30 January 2020.
In addition, the
Director General underlined that the
Organization is witnessing a fresh start to become a beacon of outreach for
Muslim countries, through promoting more communication with Member States to
implement the programmes and activities needed in these countries, thus
contributing to their respective plans to achieve sustainable development; and opening up to non-Member
States and cooperating with them in service of Muslim communities.
For his part, the
Moroccan Foreign Minister reaffirmed the keenness of the Moroccan Government to
support ICESCO, guided by the instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in
meeting the expectations of the peoples of the Islamic world; and becoming,
through its new vision, a beacon of global outreach in the fields of education,
science and culture.
Dr. Salim M.
AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (ICESCO); Mr. Abdellah Al Ghariri, Ambassador of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Kingdom of Morocco; and Mr. Mustapha Mansouri,
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, paid a
visit to the Rabat-based National Center for Rehabilitation and Neurosciences
(CNRNS) of the Hassan II Foundation for Prevention and Fight against Nervous
System Diseases to learn about the Center’s services.
During this
visit, Dr. Abdesslam El Khamlichi, President of the Foundation, provided ample
explanations about the Center and all the sorts of treatment it provides to
patients, including surgeries and radiographic procedures. He also pointed out
that the Center does not only offer treatment but also carries out studies and
research works on nervous system diseases and provides training to African
doctors to be eligible for higher specialized degrees in neurosurgery.
To consolidate
these efforts, Dr. AlMalik announced that ICESCO would allocate 10 scholarships
annually for the training and qualification of doctors from African Member
States at CNRNS in this vital specialty to be able to serve their countries
after the end of their training. Dr. El Khamlichi hailed the initiative and
reaffirmed his appreciation for ICESCO’s considerable role in its fields of
competence.
Dr. AlMalik
and Dr. El Khamlichi agreed to sign an agreement between ICESCO and CNRNS to manage
these scholarships and define their eligibility criteria, in coordination with
the Center and the Organization.
It is worth
noting that the National Center for Rehabilitation and Neurosciences (CNRNS)
was established by Hassan II Foundation for Prevention and Fight against
Nervous System Diseases, in cooperation with the Moroccan Health Ministry, and
Ibn Sina University Hospital Center. Opened in 2010, the Center was
designed to respond to the urgent need for kinesiotherapy and physical therapy for
patients with nervous system diseases at their advanced stages. It is also the
expression of the will of some international institutions such as the World
Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) to turn Morocco into a “model center for the training of African
neurological surgeons”.
The Director
General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, yesterday at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat,
received Mr. Harsul Azwar, Ambassador of Indonesia to Morocco, and together
they explored cooperation prospects between ICESCO and Indonesia in the next
stage.
During the
meeting, the parties explored ways to foster relations through programmes and
initiatives mutually agreed by the Indonesian ministries of education, culture
and science and ICESCO, as part of the new start of the Organization and its
new vision, which came into effect after its adoption by the 40th
Executive Council (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 29-30 January 2020).
Dr. AlMalik
reaffirmed ICESCO’s appreciation to Indonesia, as it is one of the important
Member States and commended its progress and transition toward the future, its outstanding
contribution to technological developments and its ancient monuments and landmarks
attesting to the glorious Islamic civilization.
Moreover, ICESCO Director General expressed his thanks to the Indonesian Government for its willingness to pay the remainder of its arrears to ICESCO’s budget and commitment to regularly pay its contributions.
Talks during
the meeting also touched on details of a future visit by the Director General
to Indonesia to explore the frameworks of future cooperation with senior
officials.
The meeting
was also attended by Mr. Hanung Nugraha, Counsellor for Political and Economic Affairs
at the Indonesian Embassy; Mr. Mahmudin, Counsellor for Social and Cultural Affairs;
Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture; Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Director of External
Relations and Cooperation; Mr. Mohamed Ghemari, Director of the Secretariat of
the General Conference, Executive Council and Specialized Ministerial
Conferences; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center of Strategic Foresight;
and Dr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Legal Advisor to ICESCO Director General.
