Staff Reporter
‘The post-Covid19 world would be much different as its overall socio-economic impact is yet to be determined. It is expected that the world would be faced with even greater challenges in the form of rising food insecurity, unemployment, poverty, healthcare needs, etc. The pandemic has enormously affected the tourism, transport, education and agriculture sectors. The Information Technology is expected to play an increasingly important role in our daily lives in the post-Covid19 period through e-learning, e-health, e-agriculture, artificial intelligence, etc. There are, therefore, more reasons for the world to focus on science, technology and innovation.
This was noted by the international participants of the 23rd Meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), which was heldvirtuallydue to present-day travel restrictions globally. The meeting had participation of 26 high profile scientists and representatives of 19 Centers of Excellence of COMSATS belonging to Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Egypt, The Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tanzania, and Turkey.Beside these Council members,24 officials of COMSATS also attended the meeting from its Headquarters based in Islamabad.
COMSATS is an international/inter-governmental organization of 27 developing countries based in Islamabad. Itsprogrammes related to South-South and Triangular cooperation in various fields of science and technology are implemented through its Network of Centers of Excellence, currently comprising twenty-four (24) academic, scientific and R&D centersfrom the developing world. The Heads of theseCenters constitute COMSATS Coordinating Council, which meets each year in order to review the ongoing programmes and chalk-out the future work-plan.
In his opening remarks, the Chairperson of COMSATS Coordinating Council, Prof. Dr. Ashraf Shaalan (Egypt) appreciated the efforts made by COMSATS Secretariat for organizing the on-line meeting amid COVID-19 crises.
