• The President of the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), Dr. Mohammad Javad Dehghani, along with his delegation paid a visit to the D-8 Secretariat on 01 August, 2018. Dr. Dehghani assured the Secretary-General of his commitment to further strengthen cooperation with the D-8. The President and the Secretary-General had fruitful discussions on the crucial role of universities and research centers of D-8 Member States in efforts at economic cooperation. They also discussed the importance of knowledge sharing through innovative projects and the need to translate heuristic research outcomes into finished products.
  During the visit, the delegation of ISC made a comprehensive power point presentation on the activities of its organization. Dr. Deghani informed the Secretary-General that ISC is looking forward to working more closely with the D-8 Member States with a view to improving the regional and global rankings of their universities. The D-8 Secretary-General, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari congratulated Dr. Deghani and applauded the activities of ISC.
  The main purpose of the visit of the ISC delegation to the Secretariat was to sign the revised Memorandum of Understanding in order to further strengthen the existing cooperation between the two organizations. The Memorandum of Understanding is comprised of the following articles:
• Both Parties agree to work closely to promote cooperation among D-8 countries in the field of Scientometric, technology, and innovation.
• Both Parties agree to cooperate in providing favorable grounds to develop the growth of science in the D-8 countries, among others through ensuring fruitful cooperation among scientists in the member countries and producing effective policies in the field of science and technology in D-8 countries, including through cooperation with the D-8 University.
• Both Parties agree to cooperate in facilitating the D-8 Member States’ capacities to benefit from available scientific facilities at universities, higher education and research institutions of D-8 countries, with the aim of citation analysis and measuring research performances to identify the strength and weaknesses of scientific and technological efforts of D-8 members.
•  Both Parties agree to cooperate in supporting education, research and scientific activities related to Scientometric in D-8 countries.
• Both Parties agree to cooperate in holding workshops on ISC as a scientific citation network for D-8 countries, in cooperation and coordination with D-8 Member States.
• Both Parties agree to support cooperation between universities and research centers in D-8 countries, as well as support relevant initiatives by the D-8 University, and other D-8 bodies.
• Both Parties agree to cooperate in introducing ISC’s scholarship plan to D-8 countries.

The Secretary-General further emphasized the importance of academic sector involvement and explained that the Secretariat is working towards increasing the scale and scope of academic partnerships in all D-8 Countries. He added that academics journals and researches should be translated into the economic and social benefits for the Member States. To this end, the private sector should step forward and collaborate with universities and research institutions in order to convert their ideas into realities. The Secretary-General emphasized the importance of making effective use of the ISC platform and welcomed all initiatives from the organization which is the third largest index system of the world.