The President of Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Prof. Dr. Mudhaffar Sadiq Al-Zuhairy, received the presidents of the Information Technology University, Prof. Dr. Abbas Al-Bakri, and the Future University, Prof. Dr. Hassan Shaker Magdi. The first preparatory meeting was held to prepare for the first International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Digital Transformation.
In his speech, Al-Zuhairy emphasized that the conference is in response to the directions of the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research regarding digital transformation and automation. He mentioned that the university had previously held an extensive meeting with specialized professors in the field of information technology and communications to determine possible research paths in this field. This was followed by a visit to Istanbul Aydin University, which will be the fourth partner with the three universities to agree on a number of arrangements for organizing the conference.
The conference aims to develop necessary capabilities in the field of sustainable digital transformation and artificial intelligence, and shed light on the latest research developments in automation, governance, and efficient resource management as strategies to support sustainable development by integrating sustainable digital transformation concepts into various sciences. It also aims to discuss the role of partnerships in supporting scientific research and serving the community, as well as supporting initiatives that contribute to improving business sustainability, both public and private, in addition to outlining a roadmap to achieve sustainable development and quality of services provided to the sector.
In his speech, President of Al-Mustaqbal University, Prof. Dr. Hassan Shaker Magdi, emphasized the need to identify research paths for the conference and link them to the sustainable development goals announced by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda, while also expressing Future University’s support for this unique initiative.
On his part, the President of the Information Technology University, Prof. Dr. Abbas Al-Bakri, referred in his speech to the university’s efforts towards the concept of open data and its mechanism of use in the university and other state institutions, as well as its licensing at the governmental level in collaboration with relevant ministries such as Planning, Finance, and Higher Education to achieve sustainability.
The meeting, attended by the vice presidents and directors of related departments from the concerned universities, witnessed the presentation of a comprehensive proposal regarding the vision, objectives, and research paths for the conference, presented by the Director of Quality Assurance Department at the university, Dr. Ali Najah. This was followed by discussions and dialogues among the attendees to enrich the proposal, which concluded with the preliminary timing for holding the conference, the informational brochure, and other organizational matters.
It is expected that the conference will be held in Istanbul at the beginning of February 2024.
It is worth mentioning that Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University had previously organized two international conferences outside Iraq in the field of achieving sustainable development. The first was at Altınbaş University in Turkey in mid-2022, and the second was at Tabriz University in Iran in mid-2023.