President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday, while calling for promotion of information technology, artificial intelligence and virtual learning, said the development of nations in future was linked with the swift adoption of modern technology.
The president, while addressing the Pakistan Innovate Conference and National Idea Bank Grand Finale, also emphasized on bridging the technology gap and advised the youth to ensure positive use of the social media. He said the artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution were the bases for development of nations. The president urged the universities to multiply the number of their enrollment to feed the local as well as the international market.
Referring to the available modern tools like Zoom and others, Dr Alvi said in the modern era, the massive knowledge and data existed in clouds accessible to all even beyond human consumption.
The digital information tools, he added, were also even challenging the formal educational structures as currently, everyone could get education while being at home. Even 80% dentistry could be learnt virtually, he said. The president said the development in today’s hi-tech era did not require any huge investment rather small startups could outshine the giants.
He said though Pakistan had lagged behind the race of technology, however, it could still join the league by nurturing ideas coming through the National Ideas Bank. Citing Pakistan’s youth bulge, President Alvi said many countries wanted to absorb tech graduates from the market, which necessitated the universities to increase the number of their students.
By 2030, he said, the world would need around 80 million cyber security experts for it being a subject of modern day warfare. He said in the past, Pakistan had lost around 95% expert minds like doctors and engineers to other countries in absence of the institutions to absorb them.
President Alvi earlier distributed cash prizes and shields among 18 toppers of the competition, who were shortlisted from 21,000 aspirants in six categories, including education, e-commerce, agriculture, natural resources, and construction.
He said the technology had also made it easier for the people to sell their products as the whole international market was accessible to them. He said in the modern world everything involved artificial intelligence, and asked the youngsters not to be shy of modifying the existing ideas.
Referring to Pakistan’s success story of handling the COVID-19, the president said the country maintained balance between lives and livelihood on the basis of data analysis and compassion towards the needy.
Calling fake news a threat to the society, he urged the youth to ignore fake social media messages to help build a mature society. Appreciating the efforts of the National Idea Bank, the president said no one could deter a nation from progress if it foresaw the future trends and needs.
Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi has said that his philosophy about life is to practice empathy, forgiveness, and treating others with kindness to spread real peace and joy among humanity. “Personal success in life is not about material achievements, but promoting affinity and shunning hatred towards other people,” he said in an interview with Tauseeq Haider, host of PTV’s morning show Rising Pakistan.
The live show featured several interesting aspects of the life of Arif Alvi, a boy born in Karachi in 1949 who later rose to the office of the President of Pakistan in 2018. President Alvi, 72, a dentist turned politician of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said he would never want to forget that despite being the head of state that he was a common middle-class person with a big responsibility on his shoulders. He said in his current position, his priority was to take effective decisions on cases related to ombudsmen, and encourage skills in information technology and awareness for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
The president said he and his wife Begum Samina Alvi were strong supporters of women’s empowerment with their active participation in mainstream nation-building, and also championed the protection of rights of the disabled. About his childhood memories, he recalled himself as a very naughty boy and not so good at studies until improvement after grade 9. However, he recalled with fondness about his mother, a graduate from Lucknow, who inculcated in him the habit of book-reading and encouraged him to write letters to her in Urdu language for improvement in vocabulary.
Following the tradition, he himself introduced his children to toy books from an early age to develop the habit of book-reading, he added.
