Currently, science and technology are no longer a forte of the Muslim world. With a population of 1.8 billion, it has achieved only 12 Nobel prizes. But between 1901 and 2022, as many as 211 people from the 16-million strong Jew community won Nobel Prizes. Besides, those Nobel prizes are marked by a high density in physics (26%), chemistry (19%), and medicine (28%). On the contrary, only four out of twelve Muslim Nobel prize winners are in physics and chemistry.
But some of the branches of science began at the hands of Muslims. From the 8th to 12th centuries, they were at the forefront of discovering scientific principles and inventing valuable technologies. Muslim physicist Ibn al-Haytham made significant contributions to optics, paving the way for eyeglasses and lenses. In building a musical robot, Ismail al-Jazari (born in 1136 and died in 1206) made notable contribution to mechanics, control, automation, and robotics. Credit goes to Muslim Physicist Ibn al-Haytham's (965-1040) for fashioning camera. There have been numerous such examples. Why could the legacy not be taken forward?
One notable reason has been the limited or no application of knowledge and technologies in creating economic value. There appear to be two underlying causes. The first one is that the economic value creation scope is minimal in the early stage of technology. Hence, there is a need to create a flow of knowledge and ideas for improving technologies. It appears that the British-led Europe did a far better job than the Muslim world in organising economic activities, giving incentives to profit from ideas. Hence, instead of limiting to scientific discoveries and demonstrating technological inventions like Muslims, Europe got into a profit-making race out of it. Such linking of science and technology in creating economic prosperity led to an increasing flow of resources for further advancement. Besides, the competition of digging for scientific knowledge, inventing, and innovating provided the right impetus. By creating a virtuous cycle of economic value out of science and technology, European countries, followed by the USA and Japan, emerged as advanced economies.
Can others including the Muslim world emulate Europe? Indicators like R&D investment as a percentage of GDP, the density of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) graduates, publications and patents, and many more may provide an answer. As Muslim countries have significant resources, particularly from oil revenue, they can increase funding for a research base. Can large funds be enough for reinventing past glory? And if they succeed, will it sustain?
Japan can throw light on the issue. During the first 20 years of the 21st century, 19 Japanese got Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. Was it due to pursuing curiosity or showing excellence in science and technology? The answer is no. As we know, Japan is a natural resource-poor Island country. Japanese firms have been working to generate and commercialise knowledge and ideas. Hence, they have been digging deep into science to gather additional knowledge for sharpening their products and processes. Such a journey of creating economic value through science and technology advancement has been driving economic prosperity. Nobel prizes are its reward. For example, to take over the global lighting business, the Japanese targeted advanced light emitting divide technology, leading to Nobel prize-winning scientific discovery and global dominance in lighting.
Similarly, to leverage the market of portable devices, the Japanese targeted to keep advancing lithium-ion batteries. This mission has brought Nobel prize and global success in the battery business to Japanese individuals and firms. In addition to driving prosperity and winning Nobel prizes, this approach of sharpening science and technology edge appears to be sustainable. Hence, instead of providing additional resources for increasing universities, R&D establishments, STEM graduates, publications, and patents, the focus should be on creating a virtuous cycle of economic prosperity out of science & technology edge.
It is important to create that virtuous cycle. Lessons can be drawn from technology innovation dynamics and anecdotal references. Irrespective of the greatness, all inventions emerge in primitive form, but they are amenable to further progression based on a flow of knowledge and ideas. They are like living things having a S-curve-like life cycle. But at saturation, they are susceptible to reinvention. Due to the amenability of incremental progression and reinvention, leading to higher quality and lower cost, a profit-making opportunity arises out of science and technology advancement. Consequently, there is competition. Due to it, epicentres of inventions and innovations migrate across the boundaries of firms and nations. Thus the industrial epicentre migrated from Europe to the USA. The epicentre of consumer electronics migrated from the USA to Japan. Lately, the silicon processing epicentre has migrated from Silicon Valley to Taiwan.
There is no alternative to understanding the global technology innovation dynamics for the Muslim world. It should figure out the entry opportunity in the life cycle of targeted products and processes and speedily implement synchronized responses. Most importantly, the momentum building through the flywheel effect should be sustained over years and decades to succeed as a global winner. In the technology exploitation race, as the winner takes all, the objective is to be a global winner and sustain it. Following this approach of driving economic prosperity out of S&T advancement, the Muslim world can regain its past preeminent position. Ensuring synchronized and timely responses matters. To win the global invention and innovation race, the key is incremental advancement and reinvention. Otherwise, mere investment in R&D establishments, STEM education, publications, patents, universities, and infrastructure will likely lead to wastage of resources and missed opportunities.
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