F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: A two-day 19th International Conference on ‘Frontiers of Information Technology’ (FIT-2022), organized by COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) started on Monday, December 12, 2022 at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad. Minister, Planning and Development and Special Initiatives, Mr.Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary and Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria graced the occasion and inaugurated the COMSATS University Islamabad’s 19th International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology on Monday.
Speakers from France, Netherlands, China, Ireland, Portugal, UK, USA and Pakistan are participating in the two-day conference organized by COMSATS University Islamabad in COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad.
Mr. Ahsan Iqbal speaking at the occasion highlighted the importance of Information technology in today’s era specially for the economical growth of Pakistan. He shared that universities need to take rapid action to start new courses in entrepreneurship and exports for students which will help to boost economy of the country. He also shared the seven-point framework for universities, academic excellence, research and innovation, social community service, technology enablement, corporate governance, industry academia linkage and quality of products.
Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria speaking at the opening ceremony lauded the efforts of FIT organizers for providing an esteemed platform to researchers, scientists, and industry practitioners from across the world to present their cutting-edge research as well as sharing latest industry insights. He mentioned that the COMSATS lays its emphasis on building indigenous capacity and competence in the emerging sciences and technologies. Moreover, efforts are being made by the Commission to bring the dividends of technological advancements in the areas of education, health, and energy to a large cross-section of the populations, particularly of the Member States.
Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, Co-Founder and CEO KnowlEDGE Streams (Private) Ltd., Pakistan delivered a keynote address to the participating technical experts, students and dignitaries. In his address titled “Bridging the Academia – Industry Divide”, Dr. Naqvi highlighted the importance of Bridging the Academia – Industry Divide and presented several initiatives which have led to novel solutions in present day Pakistan. He emphasized on the key steps to follow for successful entrepreneurial ventures.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tabassum Afzal, Rector, COMSATS University Islamabad, in his welcome address appreciated the support extended by the government in promoting the research and development. He said that Pakistan was in a dearth of high-performance computing infrastructure and there was a need to realize the economic potential of Information Technology through better training and resource management. Prof. Afzal said that the dearth of dollars confronted by the economy can be easily cured by encouraging IT related exports and technology-based startups.
The two days conference will comprise series of invited talks as part of its technical program while a PhD symposium will provide an opportunity to PhD scholar to present their ongoing research to gather feedback from industry experts. The last day of the conference will feature a panel discussion on the theme “Make in Pakistan: Need Assessment for a Strong Policy to Strengthen Indigenization”.
The conference is the 19th Annual event organized by COMSATS University consecutively in the last 2 decades and boasts of a very competitive acceptance rate among IT circles in Pakistan. The conference has been fostering new areas of IT since its inception and has this year captured attention of experts in Software Engineering, Pattern Recognition, Image & Natural Language Processing, Data Science, Water Informatics, Smart Grid, Energy & Electronics, Signal Processing and Cyber Security among others.
