However, national frankness dictates that sheer publishing abundance alone does not generate development. Our research output mostly aims at academic promotion and securing publishing incentives, rather than meeting the needs of a productive sector or addressing a problem experienced by people. The result has been a vast, heterogeneous body of knowledge; scattered papers that do not accumulate into a single research line nor lead to a product, weak partnership with industry, and limited technology transfer from the lab to the market.
Hence, the importance of the directives of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II to the National Council for Future Technology becomes evident, calling for the development of the scientific research and innovation ecosystem in Jordan. His Highness emphasized the importance of setting priorities for scientific research, utilizing Jordanian competencies and scientific institutions to enhance investment in this field, and stressed the acceleration of creating the appropriate environment for the Kingdom to be an incubator for innovation and entrepreneurship. These are directives that shorten the path and set the compass right.
In response to this orientation, the Higher Council for Science and Technology has completed the first national map for scientific research priorities in the Kingdom, with topics linked to the growth engines in the Economic Modernization Vision. Work is underway at the Scientific Research and Innovation Support Fund to transition from funding scattered individual projects to adopting a limited number of national research missions built upon this map, spearheaded by research clusters that bring together multiple institutions and specialties, including graduate students, in a true partnership with industry.
For this transition to be complete, two things are necessary: that academic promotion criteria recognize patents, products, and industrial partnerships as scientific achievements just as they recognize publishing, and that sustainable funding for scientific research returns as an investment in the knowledge economy rather than an operational expense.
Scientific research is neither an academic luxury nor a number in ranking reports; rather, it is the state's tool to solve its problems. Its success is not measured by the number of what we publish, but by a cubic meter of water we save, a medicine manufactured in our country, a crop that resists salinity, and a quality job opportunity provided to a Jordanian youth. That is the impact felt by the citizen, and that is the standard by which we must hold ourselves accountable.
