Knowledge-based economy and fourth industrial revolution are the buzz words of this era which are anticipated to bring an epochal transformation from a mass production system where the principal source of value was human labour to a new era of innovation mediated production where the major component of value creation, productivity and economic growth is knowledge.
Pakistan lagged far behind in the industrial and agriculture development in the past, but now is the time to take right decisions to fully take advantage of the revolution brought by the latest technologies in order to build the economy on a strong footing. This can be done by making our schools and universities driver of knowledge-based economy as has been done in the developed countries. National University of Science and Technology (NUST) took a first major step towards that end by establishing the country’s first national science and technology park which is being hailed as the country’s largest innovation and research ecosystem. The high-tech IT Park houses more than forty companies, including start-ups, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and tech giants. The park will serve as a launchpad for the country’s leading researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We expect that the same kind of hi-tech technology parks will also be established in other universities to achieve the greater objective. It is really time to start tailoring our research directions towards applied projects that increase exports of high value added products and we can do it by improving the linkages between the universities and the industries. We have before us the examples of South Korea and other countries where industries knock at the doors of their universities to get solutions. We also need to bring our institutions of higher education at that level and produce such a skilled workforce that could leapfrog Pakistan’s economic growth. To achieve this, the government should give foremost priority to education and enhance its budget including that of the higher education. We have a huge youth population and it is only through unleashing their creative potential that we can move forward. The government then should also support such an initiative through suitable policies that create centers of excellence and offer incentives to industry in order to establish high technology export- oriented industries such as in electronics, alloys, minerals, engineering goods, information technology related products, biotechnology, energy storage systems and a host of others.
