ISLAMABAD: The Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) inked two separate cooperative agreements with the Directorate General of Science and Technology, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rawal Institute of Health Sciences on Wednesday to forge cooperation in areas of emerging technologies for tech-based solutions to developmental challenges.
The deal between COMSATS and DGST-KP was signed by the Ambassador Executive Director of COMSATS Dr M. Nafees Zakaria, and Director General of DGST-KP Dr Sajid Hussain Shah, on behalf of their respective institutions.
The areas of cooperation include information technology and digitalization, human resource development, skills development, climate change and environment, electric vehicles, micro-hydro plants, renewable energy, natural resources exploitation (gemstones and mines), and biomedicine.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by KP Minister for Science and Technology and Information Technology Dr Najeebullah Marwat, and ambassadors and diplomats of Ethiopia, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, and Morocco, as well as heads and senior officials of government departments.
The deal with RIHS was inked by Co-Chairperson Board of Directors Saleha Khaqan, on behalf of the Institute that formalized ties for cooperation in the field of health and education.
COMSATS, RIHS Plan to Cooperate in Health Sector
COMSATS and RIHS plan to cooperate in the sectors related to health, including AI-based solutions, internationalization of medical education and facilities, people’s health and environment, human resource development, and electric vehicles for persons with physical disabilities.
Dr Najeebullah Marwat announced that the KP government was creating a one-hundred million dollar venture fund to facilitate the realignment of ‘research and development’ with the contemporary requirements of the province and the country.
He said a research agenda for academia in KP was being launched soon that would allow for standardizing and establishing centralized and regional labs on the model of Innovate UK.
