The First Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, on Science and Technology, S&T, yesterday concluded in Astana, Kazakhstan, with the adoption of Astana Declaration, which stated that the second S&T summit would be held in Uzbekistan at a date to be determined later. This indicates that holding a summit on S&T by the OIC member states has become periodic.

In addition to the Astana Declaration, the summit also adopted the OIC Science, Technology and Innovation Agenda 2026 in which the leaders identified priority areas including managing energy requirements by calling for the use of renewable energy and initiating peaceful application of nuclear technology in power and non-power sector among other recommendations.

The summit also called for nurturing the "Thinking Mind" by building a culture of science and innovation, making people employable by developing their education and skills, and improving the quality of higher education and research in addition to focusing on mathematics and physics, biology and biotechnology, and the chemical sciences.

The Agenda 2026 addressed other goals, such as the safety of water, food and the environment, ensuring healthy lives for all citizens, and managing Big data in the digital economy. The agenda also included recommendations on the environment, climate change and sustainability, enhancing intra-OIC scientific cooperation, and working together on Big Science Programmes on space, astronomy and high performance computer centres, among other areas.