ASREN and the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils Sign Cooperation Agreement

AMMAN – The Chairman of the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, and the Secretary General of the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils (FASRC), Dr. Abdelmajid BenAmara, have signed an agreement for cooperation in the scientific, research and education fields.

The intended cooperation covers all relevant infrastructure as well as tools and applications of scientific research, in order to enable researchers, academics and students to develop their businesses, and to transform research outcomes into products. 

During the signing ceremony, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh declared the willingness of the two sides to launch the ‘Arab Innovation Oasis’ as a specialized entity in serving Arab innovations and commercializing their inventions in ways that serve  Arab economies. 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh affirmed the importance of integrating the private sector in financing and marketing scientific research results, and transferring them as products; expressing his sincere wishes that more and more Arab scientists will be capable to innovate in all fields for the benefit of the Arab world.

For his part, Dr. BenAmara extended his pride in this cooperation, which enhances scientific research in the Arab region, pointing out the importance of disseminating knowledge, as well as raising awareness on the important role digital infrastructure plays in research and education, and calling for collaboration through research and education networks with researchers and academics at national, regional, and international levels.

According to the agreement the two parties have agreed to coordinate efforts to establish a specialized Arab CONNECT for research and education to provide integrated communication between the concerned bodies in the Arab countries, including universities, research and education centers, and the research and education networks around the globe. That is in addition to promoting cooperation and scientific dialogue, and disseminating the concept of joint scientific work at local, regional and global levels, taking into consideration achieving sustainable development goals and meeting the needs of the Arab region in this regard.

They also agreed to cooperate in supporting the building of research and education networks at national level in the Arab countries ; regional level through the ministries of higher education and scientific research, Arab universities and scientific research institutions, and international supporting bodies and organizations.

Other matters such as cooperation in the field of open science and open access, and efforts towards establishing an Arab States Open Science Cloud were also discussed. This aims to ensure linking Arab libraries to a computer network and providing a unified platform for dealing with research and education data, university releases and researchers across the Arab region, as well as cooperation in building and connecting Open Educational Resources (OER).