World View and Expectations from Pakistani Universities

The fuel that drives knowledge-based approach to economic development comprises elements derived from government and industry, as well as education. I myself held positions as a corporate manager, a university professor, a government official, and now, the university Vice Chancellor. My perspective, therefore, incorporates the roles of all three sectors - industry, government, and the academia formally known as the university; each one of them is vital to a dynamic, technology-driven economy.

The role of education obviously is of acute concern to me as the Vice Chancellor of BUITMS, a public sector university, which is striving to build its strength as an institution that not only educates, but also develops and examines ideas across disciplines, and, relates them to the world of practice.

A well-educated population is the sine qua non of economic development and there are three postulates upon which a university helps contribute to a successful technology-driven knowledge economy

· First, universities function to educate scientists, engineers, technologists, and technological leaders for industry, government, and education.

· Second, the basic scientific research conducted in the university is critical for innovation, emergence of new technologies, and economic development.

· Third, universities can and must foster entrepreneurship, the process not only of translating new knowledge to application, but commercializing those new applications as new business ventures.


I would like to elaborate these three postulates one by one. My first point was that the universities function to educate. The education phenomenon itself, further has three elements; the student, the academic environment and the faculty.

We believe that higher education is fundamentally a public good and whoever is capable to acquire higher education must not be denied the access to education. It is as important for the state to provide education to its citizens as other basic necessities of life i.e. food, cloth and shelter and security. We as a public sector university are categorically against the concept of education for a fee. The concept that education is a commodity that can be purchased for a fee has given rise to the mushrooming of so called universities churning young people into graduates without any academic exit standards and which are largely good for nothing. The critical element here is “the provision of education to those who are capable to pursue”. As such, it is essential for the universities to very carefully develop their student population rather than every one who can pay a fee to enter the university. The students are the most fundamental and important assets of a university and certainly they are at the Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences

The second important element of educating is the academic environment which is a very inclusive term comprising the classrooms, the laboratories, the library, students and faculty interaction places, playgrounds, auditoriums, cafeterias, hostels, and other places of mental, physical and emotional development. I can very responsibly say that most of our public sector universities have those environmental elements. The only missing link is putting them to effective use. While in most of our private sector universities with few exceptions these environmental elements are missing. I am glad to state that we are in the process of creating state of the art facilities, which one can find at the finest institutions of the world.

The next important element of educating is the faculty. I would group two distinct aspects under the faculty i.e., the teacher and the curriculum/material he/she teaches. In information technology discipline globally, there is a shortage of faculty. The situation is not very different in Pakistan. In public as well as private institutions, both the availability and quality of faculty is questionable. Generally the institutions resort to part-time faculty. After 25 years of affiliation with the academic environment, I can say that a part time instructor is not a true substitute to a full time teacher. This part-time syndrome has given rise to yet another problem the deficiency or absence of research by the faculty. In emerging sciences a very small number of academicians posses some credible research on their credit. The result is a bookish knowledge passed on to young folks. On top of that most of public universities and so-called private universities are forced to teach what could be taught instead of what should be taught.

The education Working Group at MIT asserted “Computer Science remains a rapidly evolving discipline, which places considerable pressure on the CS&E curriculum. The emergence of new tools, techniques and paradigms forces a continued re-evaluation of the topics covered and the pedagogical approaches used. Often the CS&E curriculum and its faculty become out-dated as the core ideas in the discipline and its technology advances. The group continues to state that the issues include: the balance between research and teaching, faculty currency in the discipline, sufficient considerations for the needs of the industry, integration of topics in the theory of computing with the practical topics in the curriculum, the management of large classes, acceptance of professional education by the academy, the development of teaching methods, lab materials and technologies that appeal to a wide range of student interests and values and regular updating of service courses for the non-majors

In the Computer Science & Engineering discipline IEEE-ACM prepared curriculum in 1965 and revised in 1968, 1978, 1991 and now in the year 2001 and this exercise is still on. All our universities must carefully watch on these developments and adopt the world’s most acceptable body of knowledge defined for various levels of study. Apart from this body of knowledge, the university must keep an eye on the ABET accreditation guidelines. I am glade to say that at Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences we are exactly doing that – carefully watching the IEEE-ACM curriculum and compare and weigh ourselves on the ABET accreditation guidelines. Apart from this we always look at the curriculum in the finest institutions around the glob and its suitability to our programs and necessary adjustments accordingly.

At the Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences we are fully geared to educate, we have fully functional academic facility, competent faculty and the students. We have started our second admissions spree. During the month of January we are recruiting another undergraduate lot in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Management Sciences, and our first graduate lot of students in Computer Science as well as in Management Science. We expect that INSHALLAH our student strength would reach 250-300 after the successful commissioning of admissions. I am sure you know our policy that the top students study free. The new development is that our university staff and faculty who want to improve their qualifications and are admitted in any program would also study free. We are also discussing Human Resource Development Initiative with the Government of Balochistan. Although the deliberations are at the initial stage, we are ready to GO for all practical purposes. We are continuously in search of world-class faculty.

Now I come to the second postulate, which is the research, conducted at the universities. Here, I remember the efforts of Dr. Usmani and the Dr. Mahboob Ul Haq. These two gentlemen (may Allah bless them in eternal peace) initiated schemes in early 60s and 80s respectively. The scientists prepared under Dr. Usmani’s initiatives were indeed behind our most impressive defense and energy programs. The people prepared by Dr. Haq’s program of S&T Scholarship are behind whatever works is being done in various scientific disciplines today; information technology is not an exception. I myself am the product of Dr. Haq’s HR development initiative under which I completed my Masters and Doctorate from the George Washington University. Had those schemes continued we would have been in much better shape than what we are today?

These two gentlemen remind me of Dr. Vannevar Bush, the founder of National Science Foundation in USA, half a century ago. He noted in his report "Science — the Endless Frontier" "Scientific progress is one essential key to our security as a nation, to our better health, to more jobs, to a higher standard of living, and to our cultural progress." Further he said, "Basic scientific research is scientific capital."

An important ingredient and outcome of Dr. Bush’s work was the notion of the research university, which would partner with government and industry to ensure continued global preeminence of the United States — he asserts, "The publicly and privately supported colleges, universities, and research institutes are the centers of basic research. They are the wellsprings of knowledge and understanding. As long as they are vigorous and healthy and their scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in government, in industry, or elsewhere."

The result of that investment in S&T manpower is that today America is the de fecto leader in technology world. In economic terms, between 1995 and 1998, the "Internet economy" grew at a compounded rate of 174.5%. Despite having the largest pool of educated and trained human resources, even today, American technology-based industries cannot meet their employment needs. The shortage of 346,000 information technology workers in 1998 has grown to over half a million and is still growing. And, according to Department of Labor projections, 60 percent of American jobs in the coming years will require skills that only 20 percent of Americans have. We also created Pakistan Science Foundation almost during the same era and the difference is visible.

It is the "innovative ability, in addition to the technical ability that plays an ever-increasing role in economic success. An industry depends upon specialized expertise to design innovative products and processes. The capacity to translate knowledge into high-value, sometimes unique, products and services is imperative for a nation to become competitive in global economy. This capacity arises in numerous domains, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and management of products and services. The ability of a nation to develop individuals with such innovative abilities depends upon an educational system which provides a high quality cognitive skill base from which all enterprises can draw."

The universities will have to act as long-term visionary research and development resource places. In Information Technology, their portfolio of high tech products and concepts ranges from the more traditional microprocessor and memory type computer chip to the emerging areas of biochips, micro- and nano-systems, ultra-high frequency communication devices and associated equipment. There are dozens of research universities around the globe where nano-technology research centers are functional which are glaring examples of academia-industry collaboration.

Universities are conducting research on novel materials, which reveal properties different from the natural materials from which they are made. In the coming decades, the researchers plan to build microscopic nanomachines. These may include computers with a thousand-fold increase in power that draw only a millionth the amount of electricity, materials far stronger than steel but with only 10 percent the weight, and sensors that can detect tumors when they are only clusters of a few cells.

The advances in computational capabilities, with concomitant advances in communications technologies are simply phenomenal. Computer Assisted Tomography – CAT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), The application of quantum science at the sub-microscopic level, Global Positioning System - an array of 24 satellites, orbiting the Earth every 12 hours, Deciphering DNA structure — also known as double helix, Robotic manipulation and multiple mobile robotics, Networking and pervasive computing, Multiscale computation, and Next generation computer chips to name the few.

At our universities we also have to understand the need for sharply defining a clear focus on areas of inquiry most vital for today’s global society. At BUITMS we have begun Institution-wide initiatives in management science and information technology. We have selected specific focal areas that build on our unique strengths. What we are doing is consistent with international trends. Apart from efforts for creating multidisciplinary research laboratories for electronics, telecom, and high power computing. We have already set-up Dr. Atta Ur Rehman Center for Information Technology and Telecommunications, under which we have submitted research proposals to donor agencies. We have initiated the process of establishing UNESCO Chair in Mechtronics, and another UNESCO Chair in Balochistan Development Studies. We have also requested to PTCL to sponsor a PTCL Chair in IT and Telecommunications Research.

The next important postulate in the education is fostering entrepreneurship. Technological entrepreneurship is the ability to translate discoveries made in the course of scientific research into practical application i.e. the process by which innovation is transformed into business ventures. For us entrepreneurship also means putting to use the unique resources bestowed to us in the shape of minerals, vast stretches of lands and 100s of miles of seashores. Understanding the principles, practices, and importance of entrepreneurship, therefore, is vital to the economic health and well being of ours. We believe that the spirit of entrepreneurship is absolutely critical for the university education in today’s knowledge-driven economy.

As such we have created BBI - Balochistan Business Incubator, where the university will pamper the student run entrepreneurial activities. And gentlemen, our hostel is not the hostel; we want to term it as entrepreneur’s dorm. We have students from across Balochistan and across the country from Turbat, Pangur, Gawader, Loralai, Zhob, and Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi. For the encouragement of student entrepreneurs, we also intend to create the Student Business Plan Competition and creating Student Venture Funding at appropriate times.

Another dimension of our entrepreneurship is the establishment of System Sciences/Management Sciences Expert Advisory Cell, which would be providing professional services to the government and industry. We are discussing possible ventures with different government agencies. A team of professionals has been assigned to produce model e-government applications targeted for Balochistan.

It is no accident, of course, that I have focused on BUITMS, We envision that our graduates & alumni are remembered in the decades to come as the persons who came up with new innovations, initiated and managed projects which would be still standing in the next century, founded the corporations which would be active around the globe and would be among the world leaders of tomorrow in their respective spheres of life. There are countless names in our history and in the history of others, where the creators are not there but their creations physical or conceptual are still alive and would remain so for the times to come.

Last but not the least, the universities have a key responsibility to play in the development of a general technological awareness and literacy in all citizens of a given nation, in order to create understanding and acceptance of technology, and to create a favorable climate for technological developments. Universities cannot do it alone. Academic institutions, corporate sector and government offices and labs play a vital role in this process. I can quote virtually 100s of examples of successful collaborations. I strongly urge the government, the industry and businesses to come forward for technological alliance; we are here to research the solutions to your problems.

Dr. Muhammad Abbas Choudhary
Vice Chancellor BUITMS