UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
Figure 17.11: Internet access and mobile phone subscriptions in Arab states, 2013
Per 100 inhabitants
200
190.3
Internet access
Mobile phone subscriptions
150
165.9
171.9
152.6
100
154.6
176.5
165.0
50
90.0
88 .0
85.3
75.5
70.5
0
Bahrain
UAE
Qatar
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
80.6
66.5
Saudi Arabia
Morocco
Egypt
Palestine
Jordan
Tunisia
Syria
Sudan
Yemen
Algeria
Libya
Iraq
Mauritania
26.2
22.7
20.0
16.5
16.5
60.5
56.0
128.5
49.6
121.5
46.6
73.7
44.2
43.8
141.8
115.6
56.0
72.9
69.0
102.0
96.1
102.5
6.2
9.2
Source: International Telecommunications Union, February 2015
build a science culture within the kingdom and encourage
technological innovation, among other goals.
national sovereignty and building a knowledge economy
that supports researchers and inventors (Article 23). 8
Bahrain tops the Arab world for internet penetration, trailed
by the United Arab Emirates and Qatar (Figure 17.11). Internet
access has gone up tremendously in all Gulf States. Just half
of Bahrainis and Qataris (53%) and two-thirds of those in the
United Arab Emirates (64%) had access in 2009, compared
to more than 85% in 2013. At the other end of the scale,
fewer than one person in ten had internet access in Iraq and
Mauritania in 2013.
EGYPT
Revolutionary fervour has spilled over into
science
Current national policy documents in Egypt all consider
science and technology to be vital for the country’s
future. The Constitution adopted in 2014 mandates the
state to allocate 1% of GDP to R&D and stipulates that the
‘state guarantees the freedom of scientific research and
encourages its institutions as a means towards achieving
For decades, science and technology in Egypt were highly
centralized and dominated by the public sector. R&D was
carried out mostly by state-run universities and research centres
supervised by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research, which split into the Ministry of Higher Education
and the Ministry of Scientific Research (MoSR) in 2014. Egypt’s
research centres used to be scattered across different ministries
but they are currently being reorganized under the umbrella
of the Supreme Council of Scientific Research Centres and
Institutes, in order to improve co-ordination.
The UNESCO Science Report 2010 had recommended that
Arab states establish national STI observatories. The Egyptian
Science, Technology and Innovation Observatory was
launched in February 2014 to provide advice on policymaking
strategies and resource allocation through data
collection and reporting on the development of national S&T
capacities. The observatory is hosted by Egypt’s Academy
8. See: http://stiiraqdev.wordpress.com/2014/03/15/sti-constitutions-arab-countries/
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