Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on a landmark initiative called the "Quantum Valley Pakistan."
The meeting was attended by Dr Najeebullah, Member Science and Technology, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Planning, a statement said.
The minister emphasised that the Quantum Valley Pakistan – modeled on the US Silicon Valley — was so far Pakistan's most ambitious techno-national initiative. The project will comprise state-of-the-art science parks specialising in emerging technologies such as agri-tech, biotechnology, advanced materials and minerals.
It aims to promote civil-defence fusion in research and development for economic uplift, fast-track hi-tech industrialisation and localise global innovation models to meet national needs by targeting the Technology Readiness Levels 3 to 6.
"This is the first major initiative under our Science, Technology and Engineering for Development (STED) programme. Pakistan is taking concrete steps to evolve into a knowledge-based, techno-economic power. For the first time, we are integrating all components of the innovation ecosystem, including civil-military fusion, by mirroring the early development of the Silicon Valley," the minister remarked.
Ahsan Iqbal said that the journey began with the launch of Vision 2010, followed by the allocation of 10,000 PhD scholarships.
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