“Udan Pakistan” to Boost Economic Growth: Ahsan Iqbal
Islamabad: The Engineering Development Board organized a seminar on the topic of Industry 4.0 and Process Automation at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
The chief guest of the seminar was Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, who spoke in detail on the promotion of industrial development, artificial intelligence, and technology in Pakistan.
Addressing the seminar, Ahsan Iqbal said that today, the three institutions – the government, the judiciary, and the establishment – are in agreement that the country cannot tolerate further political instability.
While shedding light on the establishment of the Engineering Development Board, he said that this institution was established under the Planning Commission in 1995 and is still playing an important role in industrial development.
He said that a revolution is taking place in the world through artificial intelligence, so we have to educate and create awareness about its effective use.
The federal minister said that the government had laid the foundation of National Centers for Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Big Data, Cloud Computing, GI, S, and Remote Sensi, g and each center has been linked to 8 to 10 universities to promote the innovation ecosystem in the country.
Ahsan Iqbal termed the “Udan Pakistan Project” as a milestone in the country’s development and said that universities have to play the most important role in Pakistan’s industrial transformation.
He said that the promotion of professors in major universities of the world is based on research quality, while the same system should be introduced in Pakistan as well.
He added that our universities have modern machinery, but the question is how much revenue was generated for the industry from them, how many startups were created, and how much did the economy benefit? That is why the Planning Commission allocated funds for 5 UETs and upgraded them.
Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistani universities have the potential to become global brands, but the country’s brand recognition needs to be promoted worldwide.
He also stressed the need to commercialize defense technology and integrate it with economic development.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Planning has introduced a Quality Assurance Framework for HEC to bring Pakistani universities to world standards.
He announced that the “Science and Technology for Engineering and Development” (STED) program was inaugurated in November, the first policy dialogue of which will be held on February 24-25.
The seminar was attended by various industry experts, representatives of educational institutions, and students and discussed the latest trends in industrial development.
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