‘MakerFest encourages creativity’

Dr Saif says movement picking up steam in the world

LAHORE: The MakerFest-Lahore-17 is in continuation of the internationally renowned Maker Fairs, hosted across America, Europe, Africa and parts of Asia to celebrate grassroots innovation and invention and to encourage creativity to find solutions to the problems through the use of technology, gadgets, electronics at young age.

This was said by Information Technology University, Punjab (ITU) founding Vice Chancellor, Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman and Adviser to CM Punjab Dr Umar Saif while inaugurating Lahore’s first and Pakistan’s second “MakerFest-17” held under the auspices of Information Technology University (ITU) the Punjab in collaboration with its project PlanX and DIY Geeks on Saturday.

He said the Makers movement was picking up the steam in the world and contributing to add new inventions, innovations and economies. The US economy was built on Makers activity while recent examples were Facebook and Google initiated by a couple of students, he stated.

He added that it would help to go forward to lay hands on applications, hardware and start-ups and to commoditise innovations in science & technology and engineering. The platform enabled the youth to invent real solutions to the problems by using tools to learn the use of technology and to create their own products such as producing electricity using solar panels, automating farmers life, regulate water flow, farm land, filter the contaminated water to encounter problems, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2017.