Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST) and Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) organized a workshop on “S&T Statistics and Policy Making” from 5th to 7th May 2009 at Islamabad Hotel. One of the major objectives of the workshop was to enhance local capacity for production of S&T indicators and their use in S&T policy making.

The organizers of the three-day event graciously invited veteran scientists and researchers to participate in the meeting as recourse persons including Executive Director COMSATS, Dr. I. E. Qureshi, who gave a presentation on: “Engagement in International Collaborations as a Measure of S&T Capacity”.

The main theme of the paper presented by Dr. Qureshi was that the countries that are involved in international scientific collaborations are the ones with a relatively strong indigenous scientific base. The data on the participation of third-world scientists in programmes and activities of IAEA, ICTP, ICGEB and CERN strongly indicates this trend. It can, therefore, be considered as one of the indicators of the S&T capacity available in any country. On the other hand the continued commitment to the participation in international scientific ventures is helpful to enhance S&T standards within the country. As a policy matter international engagements are desirable and can be facilitated by organizations such as COMSATS.

Delegates from Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and Pakistan (various organizations) participated in the workshop. The workshop ended on an optimistic note for promoting closer cooperation and information sharing among the participating states in developing S&T indicators and thus facilitating to build better S&T policies.