In a bid to enhance the impact of educational reforms on social and economic development in the Middle East, a new regional reform roadmap has been developed that combines higher education, research and private investment for promoting innovation-based development.

This roadmap was formulated by leading scientists from the region, the diaspora, top executives, science and technology ministers and leading decision-makers at a World Economic Forum on the Middle East held in Dead Sea in Jordan 15-17 May. The theme of the meeting was Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for the Middle East: Home-grown strategies for global success.

The forum is the region's foremost annual gathering of government, business and civil society leaders and will be held next year on 22-24 October in Marrakech, Morocco.

In addition to the hard skills that need to be taught at universities such as science, mathematics, technology and writing, the roadmap focuses on introducing entrepreneurship and innovation into teaching programmes and critical soft skills including curiosity, problem-solving, collaboration, creative and critical thinking. Social skills such as risk-taking, allowance of failure, and acceptance of the unknown are also seen as important for educational and entrepreneurial development.

The road map aims to develop centres of excellence and innovation across the Arab world to enhance collaboration and provide the opportunity to foster first-class research across the region. As well, it is intended to provide incentives for researchers from around the world to choose the Middle East as a destination for scientific pursuit.

The roadmap also calls for encouraging risk-taking behaviour in the context of scientific discovery through universities that have the opportunity to create incentives for rewarding cutting-edge and collaborative research.

To promote scientific programmes within universities, it calls for rewarding research activities at a level equal to that provided for teaching activities, as well as documenting and disseminating information about the scientific work taking place in the Arab world.

Incentives that encourage Arab researchers living abroad to return for a sabbatical or longer will be developed and opportunities for local scientists to collaborate across the region and the world will be created, as well as a virtual community of Arabic scientists living in the Middle East and elsewhere.

In a bid to promote the development of scientific human resources, the roadmap calls for encouraging young people to enter into science and technology as well as providing opportunities to strengthen critical thinking skills.

The private sector will be encouraged to develop regional research and educational initiatives and contribute to research and development growth.

Hassan Moawad Abdel Al, former President of Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications in Alexandria, welcomed the new reform roadmap and called for an action plan for its implementation on the ground.

Abdel Al proposed establishing a Middle East Universities Network for science education that would include leading science education institutions in the region that focused on S&T and innovation. He also called for a network of virtual universities to promote cooperation among Middle East countries in online education.

"A distance education system could be an ideal tool to deal with challenges facing higher education, including accessibility, quality and cost as well as coping with the needs of working or those unable to enrol in conventional higher education", Abdel Al said.

Mohammed Kuchari, an associate professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said implementation of a roadmap would help innovation take root in the region by promoting a "golden triangle" of academic institutions, governments and the private sector.

"This unique cooperation will help in creating environments that foster collaboration and innovation as well as enhancing the development, transfer, and commercialisation of technology and translating education into new jobs, new industries and solutions to age-old problems of mankind," Kuchari said.

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