Preamble

1. Allah (God) Subhanahu Wata’ala has not only created man and endowed him with reason, but He has also made the pursuit of knowledge an (absolute) obligation. Accordingly the teachings of Islam emphasize the importance of carefully using the resources of the universe for the lasting well-being of man.

2. Concepts such as sustainability, and analytical tools such as human development indicators, provide conceptual frameworks for linking R&D to societal outcomes. This leads towards the implementation of an approach to R&D policy that addresses the complex interconnections between technological advance and societal response.

3. Recent decades have witnessed significant changes in knowledge-production systems, especially in scientific research and related applications. These changes are fuelled by the quickening pace of globalization and by new developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Biotechnology and the field of materials-science and engineering, including the new and exciting Nanotechnology.

 
Proposals

4. For developing countries to be prepared for the transformational power of the Information Technology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, they need to develop the appropriate scientific capacity, knowledge and tools for more effectively connecting R&D inputs with desired societal outcomes, and ultimately for harnessing the powers of these technologies to realize socio-economic development. This would require the creation of a dedicated intellectual, analytical, and institutional capability, focused on understanding the dynamics of science and the science-society interface. Such a capability can include the following elements:

1. Analysis of past and current societal responses to transforming technologies. A case-history approach could be used to investigate how society has responded to a range of technological advances. Understanding the roles and relations between the media, academia, policy makers, institutions, and cultural factors could be the basis for assessing the likely trajectories of technology-induced social change.
   

2. Biotechnology and Nanotechnology enterprises need to undergo comprehensive, real-time assessment and monitoring. A database of important activities in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology should be built, and then track the evolution of these enterprises, in terms of directions of research and innovation, resources used, public and private-sector roles, publications and patents, marketed products, and other useful indicators. 
   

3. A constructive technology assessment process, with participants drawn from representatives of the R&D effort, policy-makers, and the public can lead to a better understanding of the potential of Nanotechnology. Technology assessment is both a process for bringing together a range of actors, and an evolving product that can the innovation and decision-making processes. Understanding the changing capabilities of both the Nanotechnology enterprise and various sectors and institutions likely to be affected by the enterprise can contribute to a healthy policy-making environment where innovation paths and social goals are compatible and mutually reinforcing.
   

4. Mapping out Nanotechnology’s route. Should Nanotechnology yield a small proportion of its anticipated advances, the impact on society can be far-reaching and profound - "as socially transforming as the development of running water, electricity, antibiotics, and microelectronics." We can allow these transformations to surprise and overwhelm us, or we can be smart about preparing for the coming changes, in order to enhance the benefits, and reduce the disruption, that accompanies any scientific revolution.
   

5. A thorough and objective review of the state-of-the-art Technology Trio; Information Technology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology. Economics-related yardsticks to evaluate the E-readiness, B-readiness and N-readiness scenarios in OIC and developing countries need to be undertaken as a prerequisite to drawing the attention of the decision-maker, and investor to these vital sectors. 

In Materials Science and Technology, this meeting calls for;

5. Formation of specialists groups in Advanced Materials Science and Technology in areas such as:

1. Reactor based research in Materials Science and Technology;

2. Accelerator based research in Materials Science and Technology;

3. Nanotechnology of materials;

4. Materials for alternate or renewable energy technologies;

5. Bio-materials;

6. Special materials for the aerospace industry;

7. Materials Science and Technology for Information Technology;

6. Establishment of collaborative centres for the OIC similar to CERN (Geneva), and ILL (Grenoble); One current opportunity is the SESAME project, the Synchrotron Radiation Facility for the Middle East, “Bessy-1,” donated by Germany and being set up in Jordan under the auspices of UNESCO. The facility is expected to go into operation in 2006. This is a very versatile facility for Materials Science research in a number of scientific disciplines including Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine etc.

7. Undertaking training and education programmes in Materials Science and Technology:

1. Sharing of expertise in specific strong areas of research between OIC member countries; and

2. Exchange of professors for short term lectureships.

8. Implementing joint projects between existing strong similar areas of expertise in OIC member countries;

9. Maintaining strong technical links and collaboration with Researchers/Centres of developed countries of Europe, United States, Japan as well as Korea and China, etc…

10. Focussing on strong collaboration with scientists and research centres in central Asian states;

11. Cultivating strong linkages with decision makers and the media for expanding activities in Material Science and Technology areas.

12. Publishing of a Journal on Material Science and Technology in collaboration with OIC centres that are doing research in this area.

In Culture of Science, this meeting accordingly recommends that 

13. A science-communication initiative is launched, within the context of the Culture of Science Initiative of the IAS, to foster dialogue among scientists, technologists, policy makers, the media, and the public.

Understanding, tracking, and enhancing the processes by which information about science and technology diffuses from the laboratory to the outside world is central to understanding the social-transformation process as it occurs. Of equal importance is the need to understand and monitor how public attitudes and needs evolve, and how they reach back into the innovation system. 

14. Action is taken to set up an international multi-disciplinary group, to initiate and develop a dialogue and positive interaction between scientists, technologists and Islamic scholars, in order to:

1. Lay down operating principles to resolve the moral and social issues that arise in the introduction of modern science and technology for the development of Muslim communities the world over;

2. Develop such approaches to continuously determine appropriate responses to the so-called “Modernity,” on the basis of Quran and Sunnah, for the best implementation of maximum good for all;

3. Undertake a programme for the integration of perennial knowledge with acquired knowledge, on the lines of the integrated curricula developed and being implemented in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia; 

4. Utilise the electronic and print media to bridge the gap between scientists and the public in OIC countries, and between OIC countries and Western countries.