ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, on Tuesday, launched three centres of excellence which include National Centre for Manufacturing (NCM), National Centre for Quantum Computing (NCQC), and National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NCNN).
The launching ceremony was held at the Planning Ministry where Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof Ahsan Iqbal was the chief guest. The event was attended by the Deputy Speaker National Assembly Zahid Akram Durrani, Secretary Ministry of Planning Syed Zafar Ali Shah, and vice chancellors (VCs) of universities.
The Centres will be established in Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore; Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology - GIK Institute – GIKI; NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, and NUST Islamabad.
The NCQC is not merely about adopting an emerging technology; it is about fostering a culture of innovation, nurturing a new generation of thinkers, and catalyzing the transformation of Pakistan’s digital landscape. “With a robust framework in place, we aim to not only build capacity but also create a knowledge-based ecosystem that can sustain and grow itself in the long run. This centre aspires to serve as a nexus for academic research, technological innovation, and industry application in the field of quantum computing.”
It is noted that in 2017, the Planning Ministry launched seven centres which include National Centre of Robotics and Automation (NCRA), National Centre of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) at NUST, National Centre for Cyber Security (NCCS) at the Air University, National Centre in Big Data and Cloud Computing (NCBC), which were established in 2017-18; National Centre GIS Space Applications (NCGSA), which was established in March 2020 and National Centre for Livestock Breeding, Genetics and Genomics (NCLBG&G) under the Vision-2025.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the centres have been set up to equip the country’s youth to cope with the upcoming challenges in the field of technology. He remarked that this is a century of innovations, and only those nations cab succeed which will be well equipped with such weapons of knowledge and technology.
The minister further highlighted that under the vision of 2025, several initiatives were taken particularly in the field of education to empower the youth of the country. “This is the first time in the country’s history that the budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been increased from Rs40 billion to Rs70 billion,” he said.
He urged the VCs to play their constructive role to improve the teaching system of higher education.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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