Associate Professor to present as keynote speaker at statistics conference

USQ maths and computing Associate Professor Dr Shahjahan Khan will be the keynote speaker at the first Arab Statistics Conference in Amman, Jordan.

Organised by the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), the conference was established to raise competencies and skills of the Arab Statistical Organisation by addressing certain statistical fields and issues existing in Arab countries.

'My keynote speech is on the Importance of Statistics in Development in line with the theme of the conference: No Development without Statistics,' Dr Khan said.

'I will also present two papers at the conference in the areas of improved statistical inference and predictive inference.'

Dr Khan also said that the conference was being held at an important time, with the world more reliant on statistics then ever before.

'We are living in a global information society where the flow of information is ever increasing and statistics is playing a major role in shaping and providing scientific information that is useful in almost every aspect of human life,' he said.

'Modern decision making, be it for an individual or a business or any national Government or international agency is increasingly using statistical methods to improve the quality of decisions.'

The keynote speech will also look at the use of statistics in developed nations and their influence on these countries.

'Every developed nation has adopted statistical methods in its diverse industries, local and national planning,' Dr Khan said.

'Statistics provide a much needed benchmark for current state of affairs, so that schemes could be undertaken to address any issues or to improve on specific aspects of the affair.

'Moreover, statistical methods are capable of predicting or forecasting the future state of affairs, which are essential for effective development strategies, either for individuals or for groups.'

While in the Middle East, Dr Khan will also take time to visit one of the regions best university's, University of United Arab Emirate, Al-Ain to present an invited seminar in the college of business on ‘Statistics in Decision Making – Sample and Non-sample Issues.'

The conference, which will run from Monday November 12 to Tuesday November 13 2007 is organised with the Patronage of his Royal Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-

Hussain of Jordan, and the session in which Dr Khan will present his keynote speech will be chaired by the Minister of Planning of Jordan.

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628