A two-day 19th International Conference on ‘Frontiers of Information Technology’ (FIT-2022), organized by COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) started, December 12, 2022 at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad. Minister, Planning and Development and Special Initiatives, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary and Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria graced the occasion and inaugurated the COMSATS University Islamabad’s 19th International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology. Speakers from France, Netherlands, China, Ireland, Portugal, UK, USA and Pakistan participated in the two-day conference. The conference is the 19th Annual event organized by COMSATS University consecutively for the last two decades, providing a popular platform for exchange of knowledge and expertise in a number of areas of IT, including Software Engineering, Pattern Recognition, Image & Natural Language Processing, Data Science, Water Informatics, Smart Grid, Energy & Electronics, Signal Processing and Cyber Security. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the importance of Information Technology in today’s world, especially for the economic growth of Pakistan. He shared that universities need to take rapid action to start academic courses in entrepreneurship and exports that will help to boost economy of the country. In this regard, he also shared the seven-point framework for universities, academic excellence, research and innovation, social community service, technology enablement, corporate governance, industry academia linkage and quality of products.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria lauded the efforts of FIT organizers for providing a useful platform to researchers, scientists, and industry practitioners from across the world to present their cutting-edge research as well as sharing latest insights useful for industry. He informed that the COMSATS lays great emphasis on building indigenous capacities and competence of developing countries in the emerging sciences and technologies. Moreover, efforts are being made by the Commission to bring dividends of technological advancements in the areas of education, health, and energy to a large cross-section of the populations, particularly of the Member States.

In his welcome address, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tabassum Afzal, Rector, COMSATS University Islamabad, appreciated the support extended by the government in promoting the research and development. He said that Pakistan is facing a dearth of high-performance computing infrastructure and there is a need for tapping economic potential of Information Technology through better training and resource management. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, Co-Founder and CEO Knowledge Streams (Private) Ltd., Pakistan delivered a keynote address titled “Bridging the Academia - Industry Divide”. The two-days conference comprised of a series of invited talks as part of its technical program while a PhD symposium provided an opportunity to PhD scholars to present their ongoing research. The last day of the conference featured a panel discussion on the theme “Make in Pakistan: Need Assessment for a Strong Policy to Strengthen Indigenization”.