Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, organised a seminar to discuss the work on Arab Knowledge Index. The seminar, held as part of the International Conference on Statistics and Modelling at the university, looked at the mechanism of the index as well as its statistical indicators and suggested ways to develop it during the next phase.

Addressing the seminar, Dr. Moataz Khurshid, former Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said the Arab Knowledge Index has adopted international methodologies taking into consideration the specific nature of the Arab region. The index has integrated research and development with innovation, Dr. Khurshid added.

Dr. Hani Al-Turki, Coordinator of the Arab Knowledge Project, said the index aims to provide a highly reliable tool for decision makers in the Arab countries to study the strengths and weaknesses of various sectors, but it is not designed to classify the countries by ranking the performance of the sectors.

He pointed out that the Arab Knowledge Index covers sectors that have a significant impact on the society such as Technical Education and Vocational Training; Information and Communication Technology; Higher Education; Pre-university Education; Knowledge Economy, as well as Research and Development and Innovation.

Dr. Mohammed Ismail, Head of the Statistics Department of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, said the Arab Knowledge Index in its first phase adopted global statistical methodologies in the construction of the indicators. Communications have been established with international statistical organizations to benefit from their expertise in this field, Dr. Ismail added.

The first results of the Arab Knowledge Index was announced during the Knowledge Summit, organized by MBRF in December last year, in the presence of a large number of professionals, academics, researchers and representatives of local and international media. The index is designed as an effective tool that offers a road map for officials and decision-makers to achieve growth and development plans.
Source:WAM