The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Department of Science and Scientific Research) organized, on November 28-29, 2024, in cooperation with the UNESCO Office in Rabat, the “Regional Symposium on Open Science Implementation : Pathways of the UNESCO Recommendation.”
In his opening statement, Dr. Mohamed Sanad Abu Darwish, Director of Science and Scientific Research at ALECSO, conveyed the greetings of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, to all participants, and his wishes for the success of this event.
Dr. Abu Darwish noted that the Symposium is part of ALECSO’s efforts, in collaboration with several international organizations, particularly UNESCO, to develop an integrated Arab vision toward an inclusive access to scientific data and information. This vision promotes transparency and openness in scientific research, enabling the global and Arab communities to collaborate more effectively. It also involves undertaking practical steps to achieve Open Science goals in the Arab world, developing tools enabling everyone’s access to sources of knowledge, making better known the Arab Open Science platforms, and promoting the sharing of experience and expertise to better serve scientific and educational communities.
The Symposium was held in implementation of a recommendation from the Arab Open Science Forum, organized by ALECSO in 2023 in Kuwait in cooperation with the Arab Open University. The recommendation called for increased networking among Arab scientific platforms, as well as for enhancing cooperation and the sharing of experience and knowledge.
The Symposium addressed the Arab scientific platforms and their role in disseminating science and modern education, with focus on their origins, evolution, and impact in terms of spreading knowledge, promoting collaborative learning, and addressing the shortage of scientific and research data in the Arab world.
Through this Symposium, ALECSO sought to achieve several goals, including in particular :
- Establishing the ALECSO Network for Open Science Platforms, with the aim of making known the Arab Open Science platforms and link them with Arab science and education institutions with the aim of sharing knowledge and enhancing access to open sources.
- Networking Arab universities and scientific research institutions with Open Science platforms and optimizing the utilization of these platforms to serve Arab scientific communities.
