Under National Research Institutes (NRI) are universities and research institutes affiliated with universities operating in the field of Information Technology, Nuclear Science, Physics & Chemistry, Engineering, Agriculture and Biology, Space and Planetary and other fields. Prominent are COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, National University of Science & Technology (NUST), Pakistan Institute of Theoretical Physics at Lahore University of Engineering & Technology, Research Institute of Chemistry at Karachi University and others. In total, there are 18 such institutions.
Some of these institution date back to early 50s. The urgency for achieving excellence in Science & Technology for the growth of the newborn nation was recognised in the early years of Pakistan. In 1950, the office of Science Advisor was created by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was appointed as the first Science Advisor.
The objective was to achieve excellence in research and development to support local industry in producing innovative products based on indigenous manpower, technology and material and to support educational institutions in specialised fields and also to support the defence industry of Pakistan so as to speed up Pakistan's economic growth and achieve self-sufficiency. The task to do so was delegated to MoST. From mid-50s, it embarked on the task of building research institutes and today there are as many as 47 such institutes.
These institutes have on their rolls a significant number of scientists, professors, research analysts, engineers and other experts. Each institute is equipped with research software and hardware; and these are housed in spacious facilities located in landmark areas of Pakistan.
There is a need to carry out an objective analysis of a very large investment that has been made to set up these institutions and more importantly, to sustain them - all out of public money. Their deliverables to the industry of Pakistan, academia and defence industry need to be closely evaluated.
Some of the institutions have achieved remarkable recognition and delivered well. COMSATS Institute of Information Technology is one of them. Established in 1998 as a public research university in this institute is ranked among top 250 Asian Universities. It has over 5,000 students on its main Islamabad campus and over 30,000 more on its six satellite campuses. The university has since its inception produced around 900 PhDs.
National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) is another flag carrier. As of 2016, it has over 15,000 students and is ranked by QS World University Rankings as among the leading 50 universities under the age of 50 and among top 500 universities of the world.
There are few other great exceptions. But majority of the 47 institutes is not delivering much to the nation. Their contributions range from nil to insignificant, their exposure to public regarding their deliverables is limited, and there is overlapping of functions among the entities under MoST and other government institutions perusing nearly similar objectives.
Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) was established in 1953 for the development of scientific and technical research and R&D with a focus on the industry of Pakistan. PCSIR hosts 150 officers & technical staff including 7 directors at its head office and a top team of 681 scientists, PhDs, engineers and technologists and a support team of 1,656 technical and skilled staff and 178 administrative staff based at PCSIR well-equipped and spacious facilities all over the country. Their deliverables to the industry of the country constitute a question mark.
In all the countries that have achieved excellence in science, technology, Research & Development in Industry, Space, Defence, Academia government institutions responsible to facilitate them and the industry and academia worked hand in hand as one team. This has not happened in Pakistan. The research institutes of the government, the industry and academic institutions, by and large, work in isolation making no meaningful contribution to the greater objective of achieving the desired results. There is a need to rationalise the resources available with the institutes of MoST and align them well with the industry and academia and do away whatever is redundant.
The big challenge for the new government is to make Pakistan's state machinery leaner, smarter and technology-driven to meet the great economic, social and ethnic challenges the nation is confronted with.
(The writer is former President of Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
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