New Delhi, August 28, 2023, Dr. Munir Eldesouki, President of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, has headed the Saudi Arabian team attending the G20-Chief Science Advisers Roundtable conference in New Delhi. Dr. Eldesouki stressed the pressing need for creating a science and technology policy agenda during his statement at the gathering. He emphasized that the difficulties in this area include the quick influx of fresh data and information as well as the dearth of adequate indicators to gauge the effects of policy. Dr. Eldesouki went on to talk about the Kingdom's initiatives to advance illness prevention and public health. To make access to specialized medical services easier, the first virtual hospital based on the one-health model was established. In order to promote research and development partnerships in disease prevention, epidemic preparedness, vaccine development, and combating the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi National Institute of Health (SNIH) was also founded. The Kingdom has established itself as a global leader in the fight against vector-borne diseases thanks to its pioneering work in reducing dengue fever using biological methods that are favorable to the environment.
The President emphasized Saudi Arabia's dedication to the free and open exchange of information and scientific knowledge. Saudi Arabia has created open research platforms, an open data portal, and the Gulf Database platform "Jisr," which is run and maintained by the Saudi Research and Innovation Network "Maeen. To prevent data loss and address potential negative effects and threats posed by artificial intelligence, the Kingdom has also launched principles of data regulatory ethics and AI models. The Kingdom's contributions to scientific research were also assessed by Dr. Eldesouki, who noted that it ranked 30th globally and first in its region in the "Nature" 2022 index. The Kingdom wants to boost the number of researchers even more while emphasizing closing the gender gap. He emphasized the substantial proportion of Saudi women working in technology, which is higher than the global average and the proportion seen in the European Union. He specifically referred to Rayana Bernawi's historic accomplishment of becoming the first Arab woman in space as well as the significant presence of women in Regeneron International Science and Engineering.