COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, National Testing Service, Pakistan, and National ICT R&D Fund, Pakistan, organized its 10th International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT-2012), on December 17-19, 2012, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The technical sponsors of the Conference were IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, and IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. The Conference has been organized annually for the last ten consecutive years. The aim of this conference is to provide the stake-holders a cohesive networking opportunity as well as a forum for sharing of state-of-the-art research in the area of Information Technology. This year’s conference was given the theme ‘Information Technology in Human and Social Perspective’.

In the opening session held on December 17, 2012, a keynote address was delivered by Dr. Nawaz Sharif, Principal Consultant, Myriad Solutions, Inc., Fulton, Maryland, USA; and an Adjunct Professor, Engineering Professionals Program, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland. The address, titled ‘Implications of Emergent Mobile Intelligence Technologies in Developing Countries’, focused on: Leveraging Mobile Actionable Knowledge in Developing Countries; Noting Emergence of Information & Communication Technologies to Mobile Intelligence; and Mobile Intelligence Drivers-Accessible Storage, Superfast Internet, and Smart Phones.

The technical proceedings of the Conference were spread over 29 technical sessions that included 34 invited talks; around 75 lectures and presentations; tutorial sessions; student and industrial project exhibition; PhD Symposia; and presentations for CIIT’s IT Innovation Awards. Subject-experts and speakers from Austria, Canada, China, Ireland, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Scotland, UK, and US deliberated on key issues relating to the theme of the Conference. Topics covered during the conference fell under the following broad categories: Communication and Networks; Software Engineering; Communication and Networks; Artificial Intelligence; Computer Graphics, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition; Robotics and Control Systems; Computer Graphics, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition; Communication and Networks; Software Engineering; Industrial Electronics and Robotics and Control Systems; Green Technologies and Smart Grids; Signal Processing and Embedded Systems; Communication and Networks; Robotics and Control Systems; Distributed and Grid Computing and Software Engineering; Bioinformatics and Theoretical Computer Science; and Communication, Networks and Geographical Information Systems.

Another highlight of the Conference was a workshop on ‘Drainage and Withdrawal Analysis of Non-Newtonian Fluids thin Films on Vertical Flat Plate’ Two experts, Dr. Abdul M. Siddiqui, Pennsylvania State University, USA and Dr. Tahira Haroon, CIIT, Pakistan, conducted the workshop.

The conference concluded with a Conference Panel Discussion on ‘Cloud computing-Potential and Possibilities for Pakistan’. The panelists included: Mr. Usman Javaid, Chief Strategy Officer – Group Networks, Vodafone Group Services Limited, UK; Mr. Samee Khan, North Dakota State University, USA; Mr. Malcolm Woodfield, SAP Labs, Palo Alto, USA; Mr. Maudood Khan, Center for Policy Studies, CIIT, Pakistan.