Need to build local technological advancement: Umar

Planning minister exhorts aligning innovation with real world problems

Knowledge has always been the core component of any country’s vision and policies for comprehensive progress.

In the context of greater emphasis being placed in Pakistan on developing a strong knowledge economy, the NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS), the university-based think tank, organised a high-level national seminar on “Knowledge Economy: The Path to Speedy and High-Quality Growth,” at the university’s main campus here on Wednesday.

Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar shared his assessments on operationalising the Quadruple Helix Model of innovation for knowledge economy: moving up the value chain from infrastructure-led to innovation-led development.

He exhorted academics and researchers to align knowledge creation and innovation with real-world problems, and stressed the need for building indigenous capabilities in terms of technological advancement and human resource development, so as to reduce and eventually eliminate foreign dependency.

Adviser to the PM on Digital Pakistan Initiative Tania Aidrus elaborated on her vision of Fostering Digital Pakistan Vision as a Powerful Initiative for the Development of Knowledge Economy. PM Taskforce on Knowledge Economy Chairman Dr Attaur Rahman presented salient prospects of Leveraging Science and Technology for Building National Innovation Systems in the 21st Century and the Roadmap to Kick-starting Knowledge Economy.

HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri talked about the role of HEC towards national development and growth and shared his thoughts on transforming this sector to embrace innovation-led development and accelerate the knowledge-based economy.

Kohinoor-Maple Leaf Group Chairman Tariq Saeed Saigol delivered a talk on Overcoming the Challenges of Industrial Upgradation in Pakistan to Transform it to Knowledge Economy and APIMatic CEO Ameer Hassan spoke A Case Study on Successful Startup – A Model for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The latter shared with the audience that his company boasted some of the Fortune 500 companies as clients.

Earlier in his welcome address, NUST Rector Naweed Zaman asserted that the coming era will belong to nations that have mastered the art of transforming knowledge into economic value.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2020.