‘Pakistan should get benefit from 4th industrial revolution’

FAISALABAD: Integrating modern sciences with our social fabric is imperative to fully harvest the benefits of recent technological developments and a comprehensive strategy should be evolved to land Pakistan in the fourth industrial revolution, said Colonel Bakhtiar Asif, chief coordinator of the National University of Technology Islamabad (NUTECH).

He was addressing a meeting at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) on the promotion of the fourth Industrial Revolution in Pakistan. He said that the West had made phenomenal growth during the last few centuries. The industrial revolution which started in the mid 18s is now entering a new emerging phase of digitalisation after successfully harvesting the benefits of cutting-edge technology of computers and IT.

The developed countries are now moving towards the fourth industrial revolution but we are lagging far behind in this sector, he said. “We are unable to manufacture the chain of motorcycles and we must sensitise our industries to switch over to the new technologies which are not only cost effective but also compatible with the international standards,” he added.

He said the university was established under an Act of parliament while army chief and the heads of three forces were also the members of its board of governors.

Arslan Nayyar also gave a presentation on Artificial Intelligence, saying it should be utilised in trade, industry, construction and other major sectors of the economy to get maximum benefits. “Pakistan has abundant raw material and now our focus should be on value addition to export value-added products to the potential markets. In the construction sector, we have been hijacked by the contractual system while this university will open new avenues in this sector also,” he added.

Earlier in his welcome address, FCCI Senior Vice President Mian Tanveer Ahmed said that Faisalabad was included among the three major chambers of the country with 7,000 members within its fold. “It is serving the industrial, commercial and business communities of this city for the last 44 years. Textile is the iconic representation of this city but other sectors are also contributing their role in the overall development of Pakistan and this city,” he added. He said that the share of Faisalabad in the total textile export was 45 per cent. Pakistan is blessed with the most precious asset of human resource of productive age. Many of them have gone abroad and are sending approximately 20 billion dollars per annum as the foreign remittances, he added.

Ahmed said that our universities were producing approximately 0.1 million graduates every year who were unfit for the industrial sector. He said that the industry-academia linkages were imperative and we must bring these institutions closer to each other to produce the skilled manpower.