الملخص الإنجليزي
The study aims to identify the reality of research centers in Oman, and their role in supporting development decisions, by looking at the nature of the services and activities provided by the centers, identifying the tools and methods used to market their research services and discovering significant barriers facing the research centers in supporting development decisions.
To achieve its aims, the study adopted a qualitative approach, by using semi-structured interviews as a tool to collect data. The study population consisted of all academic and government research centers in Oman; 22 centers in total, excluding those centers established post 2018. The interviews covered 19 managers and 2 section heads. The qualitative data obtained from the interviews was analyzed in a particular classification and encoding, and then was placed according to main headings and subheadings and linked to the study objectives.
The study findings reveal that most of the research centers contribute to supporting development decisions and decision making, according to their varied specialty and concerns, by providing several services and activities, including research, consultation service, joint committees, conferences and seminars, training workshops and social initiatives. The study also found that there are several types of research according to the source of finance. Such as; self-financed with the highest mark (100%), followed by contracted research externally financed by the public and private sectors (95%), long term strategic research financed by His Majesty the Sultan to support scientific research, and the strategic research grant programme by the Research Council (36%) and lastly, research chairs with (32%). The study highlighted the diversity of the research centers in Oman, focusing on future studies and local polling surveys. The study findings indicate that there are several methods and tools used by the research centers in Oman to promote their services and activities in support of development decisions, and are directed to the decision makers and the community at large. Marketing includes traditional media, i.e. newspapers, TV and radio and e-marketing. The study revealed that (86%) of the centers promote their research services through their websites, and most of the centers use their website to introduc the center and its objectives, research activities, conferences, seminars and training programmes. On the other hand, the study highlighted that only 41% use social media networks for marketing. The interviews clarified that 6 centers have various accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, and they use them to promote the center and its services. These centers also promote the results of their research in scientific journals and books, while certain centers publish monthly, semi-annual and annual inhouse magazines and publications.
The study also exposed several reasons and barriers which may prevent the service from reaching the decision makers, or obstruct the support of development decisions, such as financial support, manpower, the gap between the centers and the decision makers, and decision makers using external and foreign centers. 90% of the individuals forming the study community center managers and their representatives) agreed that the most significant barriers to submitting their services to the decision makers included a lack of financial resources, or subsidy, and shortage of manpower.
The study concludes with several recommendations: the private sector must financially support the centers by sponsoring their research and activities. There needs to be a provision of qualified manpower, a bridging of the gap between the centers and decision makers by stimulating communication channels, joint meetings, research and activities, cooperation between the local centers, joint research to ensure no repetition of efforts and an enhancement the role of social media to promote the centers and their services.
