Idea of establishing a high-level Commission was conceived by Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam; COMSATS Varsity now ranks highest among world universities

A.M.Bhatti/Rana Farrukh

ISLAMABAD: Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi Executive Director Commission on Science and Technology in South (COMSATS) has said despite limited resources COMSTAS is doing excellent job in research; establishing centers of excellence and promotion of information technology among the member states.

He said a summary has been moved in order to get more funds allocation with this hope that the government shall allocate more funds in order to further improve and augment Commission’s efforts.

While talking about funding of the Commission, Dr. Junaid Zaidi said Pakistan govt is providing host facilities while member states contribute to budget. COMSATS University is purely a govt institution and being run as per rule and regulations of govt of Pakistan.

Dr. Zaidi expressed these views during an interview with Daily Islamabad Post. Consultant Naeem Uddin was also present on the occasion.

While sharing some background information Dr Zaidi told, the idea of establishing a high-level Commission on Science and Technology for countries of the South was conceived by Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam, in recognition of the increasingly widening gap of scientific knowledge and economic development between the North and the South.

It was realized that sustainable socio-economic development in the South cannot be achieved without building and sustaining indigenous capacities in science and technology and that the strengthening of South-South and North-South collaboration, and exchange of technical know-how, is imperative for the generation and sustenance of such capacities. Professor Salam’s enthusiasm and personal contacts motivated a number of Heads of State/Government of developing nations to join hands for the establishment of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS).

The General Meeting of the Commission is the highest forum of COMSATS, which is represented by the Heads of State/Government of COMSATS’ twenty-seven Member States. COMSATS’ membership is spread across three continents, i.e. Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The first General Meeting of the Commission was held in 1994 that led to the establishment of COMSATS itself, while the 2nd General Meeting was held in April 2012 in Islamabad at the level of Ministers/ officials nominated by the Heads of State/Government. During the 2nd General Meeting, the Chairpersonship of the Commission was passed on to the Republic of Ghana with a consensus vote. The President of Ghana, is the incumbent Chairperson of COMSATS, who is now serving the second tenure after being re-elected in the 3rd General Meeting of COMSATS, held on October 2015, in Accra, Ghana.

It may be mentioned here that Syed Muhammed Junaid Zaidi known as S. M. Junaid Zaidi (born 19 July 1949) is a Pakistani scientist , entrepreneur and educator. He is the founding rector of the COMSATS University Islamabad.

Junaid Zaidi (S.I,H.I) took the post of the Executive Director of Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (COMSATS) in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 27, 2017. Junaid Zaidi was born in Rawalpindi in 1949. After getting his master’s degrees in Mathematics and Physics from the University of the Punjab, in 1981 he got another degree in Operations Research from the University of Birmingham. He completed his doctoral work at the University of Birmingham in 1984, specializing in optimization of algorithms on networking. On July 19, 2012, Lancaster University, UK, conferred on Zaidi the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science. He has served the government of Pakistan as the Director General of the National Center for Technology Transfer, (1991–95) and as “Scientific Secretary & Chief S&T” with the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (1995–98). From 1998 to 2017 he was the Founder Rector of the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), which was awarded Charter by the Government of Pakistan in 2000. After retiring from CUI, he is serving as the Executive Director of COMSATS, since March 2017.

His decorations include, Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2006.

Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2015. The NCR Corporation award “IT Pioneer 1987-1995” in the year 2000. Doctorate of Science Honoris Causa, University of Lancaster, 2012. Al-Farabi gold medal, awarded by the Academic Council of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU), 2018. Center of Islamic Finance – Special Award in 2017.

Dr. Zaidi further said currently two major programs are being run under the aegis of this Commission, one is the COMSATS University and the second is the Internet services. Recently we have worked on Tele Health Center program, which would help expecting women take care of their selves and their newborn babies. In Balochsitan alone we are establishing over 30 tele health centers. This program is being even followed in Jordan and other member states also.

Climate change, as you know, is yet another area that has acquired global attention due to widespread changes taking place in this sector. In this regard we in collaboration with 22 other member countries are devising a plan in order to address challenges emanating from climate change phenomenon.

He said, the Commission is also running 24 centers of excellence. We are in the process of opening more and more such centers in various member states. For examples in Sri Lanka the primary education structure is excellent however they have some issues in higher education sector. We have proposed them to open a Center of Excellence on the pattern of COMSATS University. Negotiations are underway with the Lankan authorities in this regard and hopefully by next year we may have a COMSATS University in Sri Lanka also.

Likewise, Nigeria is yet another important country where there are about 112 universities in Nigeria, we therefore proposed the President of Nigeria to think about opening a center of excellence in Nigeria also. We have proposed similar center of excellence to the Egyptian authorities also.

Dr Junaid Zaidi while talking about International Center of Chemical and Biological Center said this Center has helped Kazakhstan, Nigeria and China in the related fields. Chinese have agreed to build an industrial bio center in Pakistan. Chinese government has promised to incur all expenses in this regard. Pakistan would only allocate land for this center. Once completed, this Center shall help produce more experts in this field.

He further said Commission works in close contact with member diplomatic missions based in Pakistan. In this regard, meetings are arranged from time to time and I am glad to share with you that all member states missions participate in these meetings regularly.

Dr. Zaidi also talked about science diplomacy and shared various salient features of this policy. He told that main purpose of this policy is to encourage and promote initiatives in the field of science and technology.