Category: News update

The Headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in Rabat hosted the 4th International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development, held under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him.
The Conference is organized by the National School of Arts and Professions (ENSAM) at the Mohamed V University in Rabat, in partnership with ICESCO and its Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), and Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan. The event saw high-caliber participation including ministers, ambassadors and a host of academicians and specialists in the fields of modern technology and digital systems.

The opening session kicked off today, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by a general overview by Dr. Omar Halli, Advisor to the Director-General (DG) for the FUIW, where he noted that this conference is a major international event bringing together more than 350 participants from 20 countries.

In his address, Dr. Abdellatif Miraoui, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation of the Kingdom of Morocco, stated that Morocco has chosen the digital model and adopted digitization as a pillar of sustainable development. He added that it is important to capitalize on the capacities and talents of young people and hone their digital skills to achieve development and prosperity.

In his address, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO DG, stressed the need to reconsider curricula in schools and higher education institutions, noting that universities have comprehensive visions that contribute to identifying today’s needs. He added that development has become heavily reliant on the applications of modern virtual technology and digital systems are now a prerequisite for keeping up with future changes.

“ICESCO seeks to promote artificial intelligence and conclude partnerships with the major global space institutions. It accords strong attention in its plans to issues about developing digital education in the Islamic world, encouraging innovation initiatives among young people, linking research scientific studies with contemporary needs, and supporting university institutions to adopt optimal curricula for further innovation,” added ICESCO DG.

In his address, Mr. Younes Sekkouri, Moroccan Minister of Economic Integration, Small Enterprises, Employment and Competencies, stressed the need to develop policies and programmes likely to strengthen intelligent systems, bridge the gap between researchers and develop the investment market.

For his part, Dr. Mohammed Rhachi, President of Mohammed V University in Rabat, highlighted the close relationship between economic development and social development. “Morocco strives to promote scientific and technological research in the private sector and universities,” added Dr. Rhachi.

Dr. Khalid El-Bikri, Director of the National Higher School of Arts and Professions in Rabat, reviewed the school’s efforts in training generations of engineers and researchers through its various programmes that attach special importance to modern technology. Dr. Mostafa Ezziyyani, Professor at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Chairman of the Conference, pointed out the conference’s role in developing innovative ideas by finding academic solutions to various economic problems.

After the opening session, Dr. Ibrahim Adam Ahmed El-Dukheri, Director-General of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development; Mr. Karim Amor, President of Moroccan Entrepreneurs worldwide at CGEM, which is dedicated to Moroccan entrepreneurs and High Potentials of the World; and Mr. Hicham El-Abbadi, Business Sales Manager Afrique Francophone at Epson, as well as the guests of honor stressed the importance and role of technology in achieving sustainable development and facing challenges.

Afterward, the Conference presented appreciation awards for international excellence in scientific research to ICESCO DG, the President of Mohammed V University and the President of Abdelmalek Essaadi. Awards were also granted to the winners at the innovation competition. Besides, the participating universities signed several agreements in the field of scientific research and innovation before the beginning of the working sessions of the conference.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that the Organization strives to promote investment in modern technology and artificial intelligence to safeguard and document heritage given the importance of tangible and intangible heritage in contributing to achieving sustainable development and highlighting the identities of nations and peoples.

This was part of Dr. AlMalik’s video address, delivered to the third international conference, held by the Faculty of Archeology at Fayoum University in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in cooperation with the University of Marburg in Germany, under the theme “Technology and Digitization for Safeguarding, Documenting and Conserving Antiquities.” The three-day conference kicked off on Monday, May 23, 2022, at Fayoum University headquarters, with the participation of many officials, professors and researchers in the field of heritage.

At the beginning of his address, Dr. AlMalik praised the city of Fayoum, where many civilizations coexisted side by side, and its rich heritage sites dating back to different eras, stressing that ICESCO has focused on heritage within its new vision through the establishment of the Center of Heritage in the Islamic World as an effective tool for implementing its strategy to protect, safeguard, conserve and benefit from heritage in achieving sustainable development goals in its Member States.

“ICESCO has established a unit within the Center of Heritage in the Islamic World to use artificial intelligence technologies and applications to uncover, document and protect heritage sites, and combat heritage-related crimes,” added ICESCO DG.

Besides, Dr. AlMalik underlined that the Organization has launched academic programmes for teaching heritage, particularly the international master’s degree program in preserving and digitizing archival heritage, in cooperation with Ain Shams University and Philips Marburg.

In conclusion, ICESCO DG noted that the Organization will hold an international conference on the use of artificial intelligence and digitization applications and technologies in heritage fields, in 2022, in cooperation with international and academic institutions operating in the field of heritage.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), noted that the publication of the first volume of the Encyclopedia of Occidentalism, which is elaborated by the ICESCO Chair for Civilizational Dialogue at Qatar University’s College of Sharia and Islamic Studies (QU-CSIS), introduces a new vision that accommodates the human and intellectual developments that have taken place after years of adopting a narrow approach to assessment and evaluation, indicating that the central Western culture is facing intense internal strife.

This statement came in the address he delivered, via videoconference, during the ceremony organized by Qatar University on May 23, 2022, in celebration of the publication of the first volume of the encyclopedia, which is the first scientific work in the Islamic world that studies the West. The encyclopedia was elaborated with the support of ICESCO’s Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), and the Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The celebration saw the participation of high-level Qatari officials and prominent academics and scientific figures.

In his address, Dr. AlMalik expressed his delight at the encyclopedia that he denoted as authentic, bold, judicious and unique, being the first work in the Islamic world that analyses Occidentalism through a scientific prism and compiles its historical and cultural concepts into an encyclopedia.

He also expressed his pride in the fruitful cooperation between ICESCO and Qatar University, which testifies to the effectiveness of the division of labor despite geographic distances. He also commended ICESCO’s scientific and cultural chairs’ programme, noting that the Organization established forty scientific chairs over the past two years.

ICESCO DG conveyed his gratitude to Qatar University and its College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, and to ICESCO Chair for Civilizational Dialogue at the same University, as well as to all the researchers who brought this project to fruition.

In their interventions, the speakers emphasized the importance of promoting scientific research in the field of civilizational dialogue and exploring its intellectual, scientific, religious, social and historical aspects.

At the close of the celebration, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al-Derham, President of Qatar University, presented ICESCO DG with a special prize in recognition of his efforts toward developing and modernizing the Organization. Tribute was also paid to many of the researchers who contributed to the elaboration of the encyclopedia.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), stated that major challenges still face educators of Sharia and Islamic studies and modern universities specializing in Islamic jurisprudence in the Islamic world, preventing these institutions from assuming their roles in linking this Ummah’s glorious past with its present, anticipating a brighter future and overcoming the discord between a rich scientific and civilizational heritage and the ever-changing modern sciences to ensure humanity’s advancement and prosperity.

Dr. AlMalik made this statement in a recorded address to the opening session of the International Summit on “Islamic Education in a Modern World: Challenges, Trends and Prospects,” which is organized as part of the Fourth Session of the Bolgar International Forum on the Theological Heritage of the Muslims of Russia, which kicked off today, Saturday, May 21, 2022.

The ICESCO DG noted that reformists in various parts of the Islamic world have realized, at least two centuries ago, that achieving the cultural and scientific autonomy of the Muslim Ummah requires a religious reform that highlights and capitalizes on the Islamic scientific heritage through reforming educational curricula in the universities of the Islamic world and building Islamic universities that are on par with world-renowned institutions, following a comprehensive Islamic approach. He added that Russian Muslim reformists were the first to discuss the reality of education in their country, as documented in authentic pieces of evidence dating back to the early years of the 20th century.

Dr. AlMalik stated that before exploring ways to promote modern Islamic education, it is necessary to consider the desired outcomes of this type of education and reflect on its missions at this point in history, which include religious education and awareness, intellectual production and scientific research. He added that to allow Islamic education to carry out these missions, it is necessary to work on developing Arab Islamic culture and promote a modern culture based on dialogue and communication likely to contribute to the advancement of human thought through the valuable contributions of Muslim scientists. “The attainment of these goals hinges upon the reform of school curricula and teaching methods, giving utmost attention to teaching living foreign languages and integrating the various legal, human and social sciences,” Dr. AlMalik stressed.

At the close of his address, Dr. AlMalik expressed his wishes for the success of the Summit, hoping that it would be an opportunity to develop innovative visions and feasible proposals to promote the performance of religious education institutions, given their key significance.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Mr. Emin Amrullayev, Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, discussed strengthening cooperation between ICESCO and the Ministry in several areas of common interest.

The meeting, which took place on Friday, May 20, 2022, in the presence of Mr. Tural Akhmetov, Director of International Cooperation of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education, as part of the ICESCO DG visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan, to attend the International Conference on “Advancing the Post-Conflict Humanitarian Agenda: Sustainable Development through Revitalizing the Cultural Environment,” which was held in Shusha on Thursday, May 19, 2022.

Mr. Emin Amrullayev expressed his happiness for the constructive cooperation between ICESCO and Azerbaijan in the field of education, lauding the signing of the agreement between ICESCO and Baku State University to establish the ICESCO Chair for Biomedical Materials at the university to promote scientific research. He also commended ICESCO’s program to train youth on how to establish and develop small projects in the field of technology and innovation, which was implemented in partnership with the government of Azerbaijan.

The meeting discussed the launch of a program on “Youth to Youth” in cooperation between the two parties, holding an international conference on youth and peace, and providing scholarships for students of the Islamic world in Azerbaijan’s universities, to promote the exchange of experiences and develop the skills of researchers in vital fields.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to meet regularly to consolidate cooperation between ICESCO and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education, especially after signing the agreement of the ICESCO Regional Office in Baku.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Mr. Anar Karimov, Minister of Culture, Chairman of the National Commission for Education, Science and Culture of Azerbaijan, signed today Friday, May 20, 2022, an agreement to establish and inaugurate ICESCO Regional Office in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

After signing the agreement, at the headquarters of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture, Dr. AlMalik expressed his happiness with the establishment and inauguration of the ICESCO Regional Office in Baku, stressing the importance of the Office in implementing the Organization’s activities and programs in Azerbaijan and its neighboring countries, as part of ICESCO’s vision geared towards consolidating relations and strengthening cooperation among the Member States in educational, scientific and cultural fields.

ICESCO DG stated that the opening of the Office represents the strong relations of cooperation and partnership that unite the Organization and the Republic of Azerbaijan in ICESCO’s fields of competence and the Organization’s strategic orientations, which accords special importance to safeguarding and valorizing heritage, investing in modern technology in all fields, consolidating the values of peace and civilizational dialogue and youth and women capacity-building.

For his part, Mr. Karimov stressed that the opening of the ICESCO Office in Baku will constitute a new start for the partnership between the Organization and Azerbaijan, highlighting the eagerness of the Azerbaijani officials, led by President Ilham Aliyev, to support ICESCO’s initiatives and programs, participate in the Organization’s activities in the fields of education, science and culture and support the Organization in implementing its vision and strategy.