The President of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Dr. Munir Eldesouki, has led the delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participating in the G20-Chief Science Advisers Roundtable meeting held in New Delhi. During his speech at the meeting, Dr. Eldesouki emphasized the urgent need to develop a science and technology policy agenda. He highlighted that the challenges in this regard include the rapid influx of new information and data, as well as the lack of sufficient indicators to assess policy impacts.
Dr. Eldesouki further discussed the Kingdom's efforts in improving public health and disease prevention. This includes the establishment of the first virtual hospital based on the one-health approach, facilitating access to specialized health services. Additionally, the Saudi National Institute of Health (SNIH) has been established to encourage research and development collaborations in disease prevention, epidemic preparedness, vaccine development, and tackling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Kingdom's leadership in controlling dengue fever through environmentally friendly biological control techniques has positioned it as a global leader in combatting vector-borne diseases.
The President highlighted Saudi Arabia's commitment to open access to data and the exchange of scientific knowledge. The Kingdom has developed open research platforms, an open data portal, and the Gulf Database platform "Jisr," operated and developed by the Saudi Research and Innovation Network "Maeen." Moreover, the Kingdom has launched principles of data regulation ethics and artificial intelligence models to mitigate data loss and address potential negative impacts and threats posed by artificial intelligence.
Dr. Eldesouki also reviewed the Kingdom's contributions to scientific research, noting its leading regional position and ranking 30th globally in the "Nature" 2022 index. The Kingdom aims to further increase the number of researchers, with a focus on bridging the gender gap. He highlighted the significant representation of Saudi women in the technology sector, surpassing the average in G20 countries and the European Union. Notably, he mentioned the historic achievement of Rayana Bernawi as the first Arab woman to ascend to space and the large participation of females in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering.
Source: Saudi Press Agency