UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
Box 17.3: SESAME project soon to light up the region
Jordan is home to the region’s
first major interdisciplinary science
centre, the Synchrotron-light
for Experimental Science and
Applications in the Middle East
(SESAME), which houses the highest
energy accelerator in the Middle East.
Synchrotrons work by accelerating
electrons around a circular tube
at high speed, during which time
excess energy is given off in the
form of light. By focusing this intense
light, the tiniest structures can be
mapped in great detail. The light
source acts like a super X-ray machine
and can be used by researchers to
study everything from viruses and
new drugs to novel materials and
archaeological artefacts.
Synchrotrons have become an
indispensable tool for modern science.
There are some 50 such storage-ringbased
synchrotron light sources in use
around the world. The majority are found
in high-income countries but Brazil (see
Box 8.2) and China also have them.
By early 2017, construction of the storage
ring will have been completed and the
SESAME laboratory and its two beamlines
will be fully operational, making it the first
synchrotron light source in the region.
Already, scientists are visiting SESAME for
their work, thanks to the Fourier Transform
Infrared microscope that has been in
operation there since August 2014.
Construction of the centre began in 2003.
SESAME has been established under the
aegis of UNESCO as a co-operative
intergovernmental venture by the
scientists and governments of the region
in which it is located. Its governance is
assured by the SESAME Council.
The SESAME members are Bahrain,
Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan,
Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority and
Turkey. There are also observers: Brazil,
China, the European Union, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kuwait,
Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and USA.
Alongside its scientific aims, SESAME
promotes solidarity and peace in the
region through scientific co-operation.
Source: Susan Schneegans, UNESCO
See: www.sesame.org.jo/sesame
Jordan has hosted the ESCWA Technology Centre since its
inception in 2011. The centre’s mission is ‘to assist member
countries and their public and private organizations to
acquire the necessary tools and capabilities to accelerate
socio-economic development.’
Jordan also hosts the the Synchrotron-light for Experimental
Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), which
should be fully operational by 2017 (Box 17.3).
KUWAIT
A difficult transition
The contribution of most non-oil economic
sectors in Kuwait declined after the Iraqi invasion in
1990, especially after hundreds of companies and foreign
institutions, including banking and investment brokers,
moved their operations elsewhere in the region. The
economic slowdown was mainly due to the flight of capital
and the cancellation of important development projects
like the petrochemical project with the Dow Chemical
Company, which filed a lawsuit against Kuwait demanding
compensation of US$ 2.1 billion. In May 2012, Dow Chemical
won the case, thus increasing Kuwait’s financial losses
(Al-Soomi, 2012).
In the past few years, there have been some missed
opportunities to implement development projects of
significant economic value; in parallel, Kuwait’s dependence
on oil revenue has grown. Kuwait was a regional leader in
science and technology and higher education in the 1980s
but has been losing ground ever since. The World Economic
Forum’s 2014 Global Competitiveness Report reveals a
significant deterioration in many STI-related indicators.
Besides the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher
Education, the three major players in science in Kuwait are
the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences,
Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research and Kuwait University.
The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences
developed a new plan in 2010–2011 to mobilize financial
and human resources, in order to reinvigorate both the
government and private sectors, with a concomitant desire
to improve public understanding of science.
The Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (est. 1967)
carries out applied research in three broad fields: oil,
water, energy and construction; environment and life
sciences; and techno-economics. It also advises the
government on research policy. In recent years, the
institute has emphasized scientific excellence, a client
focus, achieving international technological leadership, the
commercialization of research results and the establishment
of new centres. The current eighth strategic plan covering
2015–2020 focuses on technology roadmapping to develop
system solutions for selected technologies in oil, energy,
water and life sciences.
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