President for scientific based knowledge sharing tendency to benefit entire humanity

ISLAMABAD : President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday while alluding to the significance of the technological advancement and innovations in diverse fields and availability of abundance of knowledge, stressed upon the need of sharing of the latest breakthroughs, experiences and achievements for the greater benefits of entire humanity.

The president said that availability of knowledge should not be contained under the mere tag of ‘copy rights’ as the greater accessibility could help humanity to move through the current economic, social and global challenges.

 

 

The president was speaking as a chief guest at a ceremony to mark the 29^th anniversary celebration of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) at the Aiwan e Sadr.

The event was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, former diplomats, members of academia and media.

The president said there was need that the profuse availability of knowledge should be shared among the nations without any hindrance by resetting the priorities which were focused somewhat else.

“Open learning knowledge resources should be utilized and priorities of the world should be changed towards mutual transfer of knowledge. The injustices should be addressed,” he emphasized.

The president further said that transformation in the world could take place in the presence of ‘ethics or humanity based order’, adding the new world would be dependent upon these shifts.

While the rules based world order was dominated by the material driven priorities, he opined.

He regretted that contrary to requirements of the world, the prevalent tendency was towards ultra rich who had been becoming rich while the poor of the world were mired in squalor and deprivation.

He stressed that just and equitable distribution of wealth in the world could make penance for the sufferings of humanity.

“The world is not ready to change the exploitative attitude and end exploitation,” he said and referred to a recent report of OXFAM which said that billionaires had doubled their income while about 5 billion people in the world witnessed shrinkage in the earning of their livelihood.

President Alvi said that genome sequencing was one of the major breakthroughs in the scientific world which was initiated with $14-15 million commitment.

The world is heading towards exponential development as the technology will no longer remain static,” he added.

In future, he said, quantum computing could handle the data of billion of humans with regard to their health which also gave rise to ‘tremendous possibilities in the agriculture sector’.

The president cited agri-advancement of Netherlands, which through a smaller country, became the second largest exporter of agri-products in the world, adding the country had tapped the water resources by conservation methods and promoting plants science.

He said Pakistan could also become one of the leading world’s nutrition supplying country by working on the modern scientific lines. Citing costly power production, he said the advancement in the solar technology could address the issue.

The president also expressed his satisfaction that the world including Pakistan had raised awareness about the carbon emission which still required wider cooperation among the nations.

The president also lauded the contributions of the COMSATS in the realms of science and technology among its 27 members.

The president also cut a cake along with the envoys of member states of COMSATS to celebrate the occasion.

Executive Director COMSATS and former ambassador Nafees Zakaria, in his speech, said that in today’s rapidly evolving world, science and technology stood as the bedrock of progress and the key to unlocking solutions for pressing global challenges.

He also highlighted a series of new initiatives by COMSATS pertaining to information technology and its applications, artificial intelligence, genomic sequencing, renewable energy, electric vehicles, precision agriculture, industrial biotechnology and climate change.

Prof. Dr. Lin Zhaohui, Director, International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences (ICCES), China, on the occasion, said the milestone in the journey of COMSATS needed to be cherished for the organization’s continued commitment to promoting South-South and triangular Cooperation in the realm of science, technology and innovation.

He also highlighted the issue of climate change as one of the imminent threats to the planet, and appreciated COMSATS for being at the forefront to promote sustainable solutions and environmental stewardship.

COMSATS an intergovernmental organization of 27 member states, has its Secretariat hosted by the Government of Pakistan, in Islamabad since 1994. Nobel Laureate and world renowned scientist Prof. Abdus Salam was the brain behind COMSATS’ creation.