By 2022 robots will take over the jobs of 75 million people globally while more than 130 million new jobs will be created due to the technological advancements taking place, and Pakistan needs to be proactive to enhance its education system to compete with other nations in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

These views were shared by Shams Faiz, Chairman of Robotmea Pakistan, during the seminar "Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges for Pakistan", organized by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, on Friday.

The session was chaired by Dr Arshad Ali, CEO Asian Institute of Industrial Air (AIIA) and former dean of National University of Science & Technology (NUST).

Faiz said the key words for being proactive are speed, simplicity and self-confidence. Further talking about improving education, he said, "We have to introduce the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with hands-on learning methodology to make our children innovative. Robotic kits and labs are an effective tool to teach STEM that build the children's capacity in critical thinking, collaboration, communication skills and creativity."

Faiz said the Americans have fallen behind other nations, including China and India, in technology and innovation. This is because their kids are not taking up science and technology subjects and are instead opting for social sciences and liberal arts. Pakistan must learn from the failure and success of other nations, he added.

He also said that technology has provided a level playing field and now access to knowledge is available for every person. In this scenario, Pakistan must not miss the opportunities as it did in the past industrial revolutions.

Dr Arshad said that talent needs to be nurtured. However, the lack of vision and initiative at the government level is the biggest challenge, which can be overcome by the vibrant private and development sector of the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019