Islamabad: Newly appointed Federal Minister for Development Planning and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal visited the National Center for Artificial Intelligence of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) to review the progress of NCAI and other national centers on robotics, cyber security, big data and cloud computing established by the minister.
The minister was briefed in detail about the progress made by NCAI and other national centers during his visit. The minister emphasized that with proper guidance from HEC, these centers can uplift the national economy through commercialization of products and digital exports for economic growth. “Technology is the backbone of economies worldwide and countries have started investing heavily in artificial intelligence for their national transformation,” the minister noted.
The Minister’s visit underlines not only the strategic commitment to the development of national technology hubs, but also underscores his desire for rapid progress and highlights the key role of these institutions in shaping Pakistan’s technological and economic future.
Professor Dr. Yasar Ayaz, NCAI Chairman, provided an overview of the National Center of Emerging Technologies and focused on NCAI’s key role in shaping the nation’s technology landscape. Economic activity has been highlighted through the research and industrial projects it has created, products developed and deployed in various sectors, including safe cities, crime mitigation, agriculture, climate, education, justice and disaster management.
The minister asked NCAI to initiate 2-3 days of AI training for federal secretaries and senior civil servants to understand how AI can transform their domains and bring about the right changes through AI integration. As AI plays a significant role in good governance and bringing the right changes is the only way forward for economic growth and a knowledge-based economy, he added.
In addition, he emphasized that NCAI will reconvene the Task Force meeting and involve AI experts from the corporate sector, international as well as Pakistani top AI talent. This will maximize their contribution and enable learning from them, enabling the plan to be launched as soon as possible. Professor Iqbal appreciated the various achievements of the centers and urged them to create sustainability. Subsequently, the minister was informed that NCAI had proposed sustainability mechanisms in 2019 in the form of two policies – one on sustainability and one on spin-off policies. Both policies contained fund management mechanisms to facilitate sustainment of efforts if the policies were approved. However, the policy was still awaiting HEC approval. HEC came up with the idea of having an F&P committee to support the labs and the centre.
Acknowledging the critical need for sustainability, the Minister emphasized to the HEC the importance of reviewing the existing decisions taken by the members of the National Steering Committee and the policies proposed by the NCAI. He directed the HEC to quickly address these issues and come up with an operational plan aimed at commercializing their technology products, leveraging support and enabling them to thrive by linking them with industry and promoting knowledge co-creation for all national centres. He further invited the HEC to engage in discussions directly with him. The Minister emphasized the central role of HEC as the driving force behind the collaborative approach with all centers and highlighted the vital influence of HEC in ensuring the success of these initiatives.
The minister reiterated the importance of academia-industry collaboration for commercialization of technology products, curriculum reforms, including national centers for accreditation and standardization, and the potential of AI to drive progress in various sectors in Pakistan. He applauded NCAI for its determination to promote AI in Pakistan. The minister highlighted sustainability through subsidies and mentioned the mechanism proposed during the last day of his previous term. He urged the HEC to expedite the release of promised funds, address delays and strengthen the key role of technology in Pakistan’s economic growth.
The Planning Minister directed the HEC to expedite the release of long-delayed promised funds of Rs 500 crore and the delayed revision of HR salaries in FY 2023-24. He demanded prompt submission of revised PC-1 National Centers in accordance with CDWP decisions. Director General P&D HEC assured the minister of speedy progress and submission of pending documents within a week. The minister specifically called on the S&T chief, MoPD&SI, to monitor this urgent issue diligently and resolve it quickly.
Earlier, NCAI also shared updates on its Memorandum of Agreement with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), an international cooperation agreement approved by the federal cabinet and in the process of being signed. Other joint initiatives/projects with government and non-government bodies, hospitals, shopping malls, startups were discussed. The minister was briefed about NCAI’s latest training modules for leaders and professionals, which were initiated at the suggestion of Professor Ahsan Iqbal during his first visit to NCAI during his last tenure right after the swearing-in ceremony.
A presentation on the National Center for Robotics and Automation (NCRA) was also given during the briefing and showcased its achievements in agriculture, healthcare collaboration and advanced robotics for industries. The National Center for Cyber Security (NCCS) highlighted the launch of more than 50 products, international partnership with Saudi Arabia and its role in improving Pakistan’s global ranking. The center’s initiatives include cyber audits for more than 30 national authorities, launching degree programs and contributing to the Common Criteria Lab’s assessment of cyber and non-cyber security products.
