Bringing together leading international experts and key regional stakeholders, the Annual Forum provides an arena for librarians, researchers, government policy makers, universities and international experts to discuss and debate key themes and issues relating to the advancement of Open Research across the Arab world. The Forum is held in a different Arab State each year, to enable all researchers, librarians, and Open Science champions to have the opportunity to attend in person (as well as online).
The inaugural Annual Forum was held in 2022 with the support of UNESCO and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, where leading international and regional academics, librarians, and policymakers gathered together in Cairo to discuss key themes and topics in Open Science and its implementation across the Arab world. Following the success of the Cairo forum, the 2023 Annual Forum was held in Abu Dhabi (in partnership with UNESCO & Khalifa University), where experts explored a variety of topics relating to the theme “Democratising Knowledge: The evolution of open science ecosystems and communities in the Arab World”.
In 2024, we partnered with the Qatar National Library to bring you the 3rd Annual Forum in Doha, Qatar, under the theme “Transforming Knowledge Into Action.” By building on the insights we gathered from our community over the previous three years, the forum aimed to address the practical needs of the region’s Open Science movement by offering actionable insights, support, and guidance to attendees looking to develop and implement Open Science policies and practices, whether through grassroots initiatives or national policy. We invited librarians, researchers, policymakers, higher-education institutions, and solutions providers within the Open Science space to submit presentation proposals relating to the theme.
The Knowledge E Foundation is a registered Community Interest Company. Our goal is to directly impact people’s lives by supporting efforts to improve the accessibility, availability, and inclusivity of research and education for everyone. Funded by the profits from our parent group, Knowledge E, we try and make a difference wherever we can, from disaster relief and building schools, to funding education initiatives and Open Research.
Assistant Vice President, Libraries
Khalifa University
Senior Intellectual Property Librarian
Qatar National Library
Head of the International Cooperation Department, Vice-Rectorate in charge of Inter-university Cooperation
University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
Founder of Open Science Community Saudi Arabia and Research Project Manager for “AI for Multiple Long-Term Conditions”
The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
Professor of Library and Information Studies at the Lebanese University and Dean of Libraries at the American University of Iraq – Baghdad (AUIB)
CEO and Founder
Knowledge E
Arabic Language Programmes Coordinator& English Lecturer
Library Director
Jordan University of Science & Technology
E-Resources Expert, Content & Scholarly Communication,
United Arab Emirates University
CEO and Founder
Knowledge E
Director, the National Information and Documentation Center (NIDOC) / Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT)
Dean of Faculty of Special Education
Misr University for Science and Technology
© 2025 Knowledge E Foundation, unless otherwise stated.
