Iran, Leading in Production of Science and Technology

Dean of Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC):

Iran, Leading in Production of Science and Technology

Pointing to the leading role of Islamic Republic of Iran in production of science and technology in the region, dean of Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) stated: share of Iran is 22% of all Islamic countries and 2% of the world.

Meeting of secretaries general of National Commissions of ISESCO which got started today, 11^th of November, seeks for expansion of scientific relations among Islamic countries.

Islamic World Science Citation Center, abbreviated as ISC, has been established in Shiraz since 2009 in Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST) after approval in the meeting of Islamic countries ministers of science in Baku, 2007.

Holding the meeting of secretaries general of National Commissions of ISESCO in ISC was approved after primitive proposal in the meeting of Islamic countries ministers of science in Morocco, November of 2016.

Representatives of 30 ISESCO member countries attend this meeting which is held by cooperation of ISESCO National Commission in Iran, ISESCO Regional Office in Tehran, and ISC in Shiraz.

This meeting which has started today, 11^th of November, 2018 and lasts for two days can be regarded as an effective step for internationalizing ISC.

Mohammad-Javad Dehghani, dean of ISC and RICeST, in an interview with IRNA correspondent elaborated on long-term goals of this two-day meeting for reinforcing scientific links between Islamic countries.

Pointing out that planning to hold this meeting in ISC started last year, he added: “Following the direction of this meeting, enhancing the quality of scientific network of Islamic countries in various areas and in different ways, is of great importance. The participants in this two-day meeting present their programs and suggestions in special sessions”.

Dean of ISC, regarded emphasis on the quality of scientific status in different areas as the most outstanding aspect of holding this meeting in Shiraz. Since ISC was established according to approval in ISESCO, ISC role-playing in programs and policies of ISESCO is of great importance. Therefore, approval of ISC future plans would be with presence of other Islamic countries.

Pointing to approval of ten-year document of science, technology, and innovation in meeting of heads of countries in Kazakhstan- which was held in the capital of this country last year-, Dehghani explained that some parts of the programs of this two-day meeting are in line with this ten-year document.

Afterwards, dean of ISC and RICeST pointed to the status of Iran and other science-producing countries and added: “Currently, share of Islamic countries in production of science is around 8 percent. In other words, 8 percent of science in the world is produced in Islamic countries. And in the next 10 years, it should be doubled or more.” As he mentioned, share of Iran is 22% of all Islamic countries and 2% of the world.

With regard to other articles of ten-year document of science, technology, and innovation, Dehghani also stated that in one of the articles, augmentation of share of universities of Islamic countries has been mentioned in a way that the ranking of around 50 universities of Islamic countries should be under 500 in the ranking systems of the world.

He expressed improvement of cooperation level and intercommunications of scientific network of Islamic countries as the prominent role of ISC in Kazakhstan ten-year document.

Subsequently, pointing to indexing reputable scientific journals of Islamic countries in ISC, he indicated that all researchers of Islamic countries can play a role in expansion of a coherent scientific network by having access to these scientific products in different fields of study and by using them.

As Dehghani stated, based on the statistics, the condition of Islamic countries in the last two decades has been improving with regard to science and technology. The annual growth rate of Islamic countries is about four times of the average growth rate in the world. In other words, if the growth rate in the world is 3, the average growth rate of Islamic countries is taken as 12.

Emphasizing on the first place of Iran in the region, dean of RICeST and ISC announced that Iran has the highest rate among Islamic countries in the region which is the 16^th place in the world. It has even had improvement in qualitative indicators.

Pointing to citation system in Iran, he continued: “Citation (citing to scientific articles) is done all around the world in which we can observe improvement of Iran. We should reach a place at which planning of universities and academic centers of Iran are used all around the world.” According to dean of RICeST and ISC, this is a worthy achievement and making Iran an authority in science and technology, leads to having real indicators of being developed.