Applications of ICTs in Education, Healthcare and Agriculture

The 3rd International Workshop on “Applications of ICTs in Education, Healthcare and Agriculture” took place on May 31 – June 1, 2016 in Amman, Jordan, and was organized by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), the Inter Islamic Network on Information Technology (INIT), the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and WAITRO.

Objectives of the Workshop

The two days workshop was part of a series of workshops on ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies). It was tailored for industry experts, academicians, PhD students, entrepreneurs, policy planners and system administrators from OIC and COMSATS member states. The event aimed to:

• Raise understanding of participants on cutting-edge practical methods and techniques employed by ICT professionals in problem solving involving the fields of education, healthcare and agriculture.
• Explore and enabling policy framework for strengthening ICT policies in OIC and COMSATS member states for enhancement of their national technological capabilities hence resulting in the achievement of developmental goals.
• Provide a platform for research students, and IT experts from Education, Healthcare and Agriculture sectors to jointly explore avenues of scientific cooperation in solving problems impeding development.

Main areas of the Workshop

Innovative projects, such as the application of ICTs to education, healthcare and agriculture are important to tackle modern challenges. The major areas of the workshop were:

• Contemporary concepts in applying ICTs to expanding literacy;
• ICTs development;
• Examples of ICTs in Healthcare Research;
• ICTs in agriculture sector integrating concepts of GPS and new technologies towards enhancing productivity;
• Improving ICTs environment for entrepreneurship; and
• IP issues in ICTs application development

The workshop on “Applications of ICTs in Education, Healthcare and Agriculture” had great success. The attendants had the opportunity to learn and increase their knowledge in key aspects related to the SDGs: (2) Zero Hunger, (3) Good Health and Well-being, and (4) Quality Education.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are tools for management and utilization of information and data for developing and enhancing proficiency of system in various applications. The applications of ICT to the areas of healthcare, education and agriculture offer great advantages, as they can reduce costs, build more qualitative systems and be more accessible to rural areas.

ICTs can be extremely practical to ensure quality education and distribute knowledge to big masses. When applied to healthcare research, ICT can help finding prevention measures to eradicate and reduce the spread of diseases. Using these technologies in diagnosis reduces time and costs, which is essential to provide treatment in advance. Traditional agriculture is being replaced by more innovative and practical ways of producing food. Modern e-agriculture involves conceiving, planning, developing, evaluating and applying groundbreaking techniques of using ICT equipment, having agriculture as the sole point of focus.