Bilateral cooperation: US-Pak Knowledge Corridor to be launched soon, says minister

Pakistan edition of celebrated MIT journal launched

LAHORE: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday that the government was in the process of initiating the United States-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor—a scheme under which 10,000 students would be sent to the United States (US) to obtain PhDs.

The minister made the remarks at a ceremony organised to mark the launch of the Pakistan edition of the MIT Technology Review at the Information Technology University (ITU). Iqbal said the nation had been making steady progress and poised to join the ranks of the world’s 25 largest economies by 2025. He said use of modern technology had been made an integral part of government policies.

He said this had been done as sustainable development could not go a long way without the integration of modern research and technology.

Praising the ITU for conceiving the idea to publish an acclaimed magazine, Iqbal said the journal would enable the government, industry and academia to stay abreast of new trends in the technology sector. He said the Planning Commission would collaborate with the ITU over development projects premised on technology.

US Consul General Zachary Harkenrider said the publication of the journal would help forge new avenues for bilateral relations in the research, academia, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship sectors. He said the US government would continue to cooperate with Pakistani varsities as it believed that academia should be used to promote sustainable development.

Pakistan Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Mukhar Ahmed said the introduction of the journal was an epoch-making event in the history of national academia.

He said he hoped that others would soon strive to emulate its standards. Ahmed said he would extend his complete support to ensure that it became a successful instrument of fostering social change.

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) chairman Umar Saif he had conceived the idea of launching a technology publication after a self-anointed scientist had claimed to have invented a vehicle that ran on water. He said no individual affiliated with the sciences had refuted his assertion despite the fact that it violated the second law of thermodynamics. Saif said the journal—an authority on the future of technology—was circulated across 147 countries in six languages.

The MIT Technology Review was launched in 1899.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2015.