Soon after taking charge, the newly-appointed Minister of Planning Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday visited National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) of National University of Science & Technology (NUST) and reviewed progress of the center.
The Minister was received by Rector NUST, Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, Pro-Rector Research, Innovation & Commercialisation, Retired Air Vice Marshal Dr Rizwan Riaz, and Chairman Higher Commission HEC, Dr Tariq Javed Banuri. Professor Dr Yasar Ayaz, Director, NACI gave a detailed briefing to the minister about the initiatives taken by the center.
NCAI is providing technical training to students in different like Artificial Intelligence (AI)& Robotics, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Digital Marketing & Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
“I’m happy to visit at the center of the country’s leading university NUST soon after taking charge of the Ministry as I inaugurated the center in 2018, said the Minister while talking to media.
The Minister further said that AI will play critical role in future and there is dire need of hour to prepare our youth in this field as five national centers were established in 2018 in the fields of artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud computing, automation and robotics and applied mathematics to develop national capacity in cutting edge sectors.
The Minister further emphasized the importance of Artificial Intelligence IA for modern Knowledge-based Economies. He stressed the center to take up research in the fields relating to economic development. He emphasised strong academia- industry linkage and the need to reform curriculum to meet requirements of the industry.
He said, through AI several areas like policing, judiciary, health and governance systems of the country could be improved. He also directed the HEC to hold workshop of industry leaders for understanding curriculum reform requirements. Later, the minister visited various laboratories of the center. He said youth of Pakistan deserves world class learning opportunities. The new government will play role of a facilitator to connect our youth with opportunities to leverage their talent nationally and internationally.
Earlier, Professor Dr Yasar Ayaz, in his briefing informed the minister that NCAI works on a consortium model in which the best researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence from across Pakistan have been selected on competitive grounds by HEC and Planning Commission and then empowered through funding to recruit manpower and specialized equipment for AI projects.
He further informed the minister that several new initiatives are being taken which includes NCAI stage 2 PC-1 in Baluchistan, GB and AJK, Future Technologies (FUTech) Park, National Academy of Artificial Intelligence (NA2I), AI Driven Judicial Support System for Pakistani Judiciary, Multifaceted Crop Scouting using Industry & Sustainable Energy Based Intelligent Healthcare Monitoring Therapeutic System with Telemetry.
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