Editing Morocco (section)

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in Morocco}}
[[File:Logo UM6P.jpg|thumb|Campus of the [[Mohammed VI Polytechnic University]] in [[Benguerir]]|295x295px]]
The [[Moroccan government]] has been implementing reforms to improve the quality of education and make research more responsive to socio-economic needs. In May 2009, Morocco's prime minister, [[Abbas El Fassi]], announced that investment in science and technology would rise from US$620,000 in 2008 to US$8.5 million (69 million Moroccan dirhams) in 2009 to finance the laboratories construction, training courses for researchers and a scholarship programme for science during a meeting at the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research.<ref name="scidev.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.scidev.net/en/middle-east-and-north-africa/news/morocco-to-boost-investment-in-science.html|title=Morocco to boost investment in science|last=SciDev.Net|date=9 June 2009|access-date=13 June 2017|archive-date=1 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301035444/http://www.scidev.net/en/middle-east-and-north-africa/news/morocco-to-boost-investment-in-science.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Morocco was ranked 66th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024,<ref>{{Cite news |author=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=www.wipo.int |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}}</ref> an increase in ranking from 2020 at 75th.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2022 |title=Global Innovation Index 2022 |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_2000_2022/ma.pdf |journal=World Intellectual Property Organization}}</ref>

The ''Moroccan Innovation Strategy'' was launched at the country's first National Innovation Summit in June 2009 by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Investment and the Digital Economy. The ''Moroccan Innovation Strategy'' fixed the target of producing 1,000 Moroccan patents and creating 200 innovative start-ups by 2014. In 2012, Moroccan inventors applied for 197 patents, up from 152 two years earlier. In 2011, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies created a Moroccan Club of Innovation, in partnership with the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property. The idea is to create a network of players in innovation to help them develop innovative projects.<ref name="Agenor">{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235406e.pdf|title=Arab States. In: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030|last1=Zou'bi|first1=Moneef|last2=Mohamed-Nour|first2=Samia|last3=El-Kharraz|first3=Jauad|last4=Hassan|first4=Nazar|publisher=UNESCO|year=2015|isbn=978-92-3-100129-1|location=Paris|pages=431–469|access-date=13 June 2017|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630025557/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235406e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is supporting research in advanced technologies. The [[OCP Group|Moroccan Phosphate Office]] (''Office chérifien des phosphates'') has invested in a project to develop a [[smart city]], King Mohammed VI Green City, around Mohammed VI University located between Casablanca and Marrakesh,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Green City of Benguerir |url=https://sadv.ma/sites/default/files/2020-10/OCP_Brochure%20SADV_VilleVerte_VAng_Couv3Volets_22x22cm%20V2.pdf |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Société D'aménagement & De Développement Vert}}</ref> at a cost of DH 4.7 billion (circa US$479 million).<ref name="Agenor" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Morocco: Growth Strategy for 2025 in an Evolving International Environment|last1=Agénor|first1=P.R.|last2=El-Aynaoui|first2=K.|publisher=Policy Centre of the Office chérifien des phosphates|year=2015|location=Rabat}}</ref> In 2012, the [[Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technologies]] identified a number of sectors where Morocco has a comparative advantage and skilled human capital, including mining, fisheries, food chemistry and new technologies. It also identified a number of strategic sectors, such as renewable energies, health sectors, the environment and geosciences.<ref name="Agenor" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Developing Scientific Research and Innovation to Win the Battle of Competitiveness: an Inventory and Key Recommendations.|publisher=Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology|year=2012|location=Rabat}}</ref>

On 20 May 2015, less than a year after its inception, the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research presented a report to the king offering a ''Vision for Education in Morocco 2015–2030''. The report advocated making education egalitarian and, thus, accessible to the greatest number. The report also recommended developing an integrated national innovation system which would be financed by gradually increasing the share of GDP devoted to research and development (R&D) from 0.73% of GDP in 2010 to '1% in the short term, 1.5% by 2025 and 2% by 2030'.<ref name="Agenor" /> As of 2015, Morocco had three technoparks. Since the first technopark was established in Rabat in 2005, a second has been set up in Casablanca, followed, in 2015, by a third in Tangers. The technoparks host start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises specialising in [[Information and communications technology|information and communication technologies]] (ICTs), 'green' technologies (namely, [[Environmental technology|environmentally friendly technologies]]) and cultural industries.<ref name="Agenor" /> According to Office Marocain de la Propriété Industrielle et Commerciale, [[Patent application|patent filing]] in Morocco grew by 167% during the period 2015–2019.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jabri |first=Khadija |date=2024 |title=Advancing Technology Transfer in Morocco |url=https://www.uneca.org/eca-events/sites/default/files/resources/documents/TCND/ARFSD2024/STI/case_studies/morocco_tt_report_august.pdf |journal=United Nations Economic Commission for Africa |page=13}}</ref>

In 2024, Morocco is among the top four most-connected populations of a country to the Internet in Africa by number of population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Africa number of internet users by country 2024 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/505883/number-of-internet-users-in-african-countries/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106211914/https://www.statista.com/statistics/505883/number-of-internet-users-in-african-countries/ |archive-date=6 January 2025 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Statista |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, the number of internet users in Morocco reached around 31.6 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Morocco: number of social media users 2024 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1172771/number-of-social-media-users-morocco/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810233324/https://www.statista.com/statistics/1172771/number-of-social-media-users-morocco/ |archive-date=10 August 2024 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Statista |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> Later, as of January 2024, Morocco had approximately 34.5 million internet users; it has a [[Global Internet usage|penetration rate]] of about 90.7%.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |date=2024-02-23 |title=Digital 2024: Morocco |url=https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-morocco |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=DataReportal – Global Digital Insights |language=en-GB}}</ref> Morocco has several Internet-related projects; an example of such is the National Digital Development Strategy 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Njoya |first=Samira |title=Morocco Launches Program to Expand Internet Access to 1,800 Rural Areas |url=https://www.wearetech.africa/en/fils-uk/news/morocco-launches-program-to-expand-internet-access-to-1-800-rural-areas |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.wearetech.africa |language=fr-fr}}</ref> In 2024, as part of another program called the Connected Campus, the American wireless network provider [[Cambium Networks]] deployed 18,000 [[Wireless access point|Wi-Fi access points]] for public universities in Morocco.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kassouwi |first=Isaac K. |title=Morocco Deploys 18,000 Wi-Fi Access Points in 12 Public Universities |url=https://www.wearetech.africa/en/fils-uk/news/tech/morocco-deploys-18-000-wi-fi-access-points-in-12-public-universities |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.wearetech.africa}}</ref><!-- Move if in inappropriate section! -->