‘People need to learn about statistics’

17 international delegations besides 100 from Pakistan attend conference.

LAHORE: There is a need to strengthen strategic planning and sustainable development in Islamic countries for which reliable statistics are vital, participants at the 11th Islamic Countries Conference on Statistical Sciences, held at University of Management and Technology (UMT) on Monday said.

This conference has been organised by the Islamic Countries Society on Statistical Sciences (ISOSS) in collaboration with UMT and National College of Business Administration and Economics (NCBA&E). Besides 17 foreign delegations including those from Iran, Canada, Palestine, Bangladesh, Somalia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Egypt, more than 100 delegates from various cities of the country participated in the conference.

Dr Ali S Hadi, the ISOSS president and founding director of the Actuarial Science Programme of the American University, Cairo, stressed the importance of employing statistics as a tool to extract information for decision making.

NCBA&E rector and ISOSS patron Dr Munir Ahmad said the conference was aimed at spreading awareness about the importance of statistical sciences. He said, “We need to educate people about the applications of statistics in various fields to contribute to the overall progress of a society.”

ISOSS senior vice president Dr Mohammad Hanif Mian said that the ISOSS hoped to provide Islamic countries a platform where the application of statistical sciences could make significant contributions.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2011.