Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has called for catching revolution of information technology to make exponential growth in all sectors. Addressing a seminar on information technology in Islamabad on Monday, he said IT has accelerated the speed of growth and development. The Minister said one can only survive by moulding oneself according to the current circumstances. He said it is necessary for us to bring productivity revolution in our economy by using Information and Communications Technology. He asked the universities to take rapid action to start new courses in entrepreneurship and exports for students which would help boost economy of the country.

Earlier speaking at the two-day 19th International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT-2022) organized by COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) the federal minister highlighted the importance of Information Technology in today  era, especially for the economic growth of Pakistan. Ahsan Iqbal also shared the seven-point framework for universities, academic excellence, research and innovation, social community service, technology enablement, corporate governance, industry-academia linkage and quality of products.

Sharing his observations, Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria speaking at the opening ceremony lauded the efforts of FIT organizers for providing an esteemed platform to researchers, scientists, and industry practitioners from across the world to present their cutting-edge research as well as sharing latest industry insights. He mentioned that COMSATS lays its emphasis on building indigenous capacity and competence in emerging sciences and technologies. Moreover, efforts are being made by the Commission to bring the dividends of technological advancements in the areas of education, health, and energy to a large cross-section of the population, particularly of the Member States. Prof.

Afzal said that the dearth of Dollars confronted by the economy can be easily cured by encouraging IT related exports and technology-based startups.  Speakers from France, Netherlands, China, Ireland, Portugal, UK, USA and Pakistan are participating in the two-day conference organized by COMSATS University Islamabad in COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad. The two days conference will comprise a series of invited talks as part of its technical program while a Ph.D. symposium will provide an opportunity for Ph.D. scholar to present their ongoing research to gather feedback from industry experts.

The last day of the conference will feature a panel discussion on the theme Make in Pakistan: Need Assessment for a Strong Policy to Strengthen Indigenization. The conference is the 19th Annual event organized by COMSATS University consecutively in the last two decades and boasts of a very competitive acceptance rate among IT circles in Pakistan. The conference has been fostering new areas of IT since its inception and has this year captured the attention of experts in Software Engineering, Pattern Recognition, Image and Natural Language Processing, Data Science, Water Informatics, Smart Grid, Energy and Electronics, Signal Processing and Cyber Security among others.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP