Comsats facilitating S&T cooperation in developing world

Briefing given on upcoming 19th meeting of Comsats Coordinating Council

Islamabad

Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, executive director of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (Comsats), informed during a media briefing here that development-focused cooperation in science and technology was gaining momentum through Comsats-facilitated collaboration among 20 apex research and development organisations from different countries of the world.

Dr. Qureshi apprised the audience that Comsats was mandated by the international community in 1994 to accelerate South-South cooperation, a term historically used by policymakers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the global South.

While giving a briefing about the upcoming 19th meeting of Comsats Coordinating Council, he remarked that the Council has a central role in making Comsats’ international programmes successful. The Council comprises of heads of twenty research and development institutions from different countries. These institutions are affiliated with COMSATS as its Network of S&T Centres of Excellence.

“Comsats has actively facilitated science and technology cooperation and collaboration between the countries of the developing world since 1994 and is also supporting cooperation between the North and the South as well, which means developing world cooperation with the advanced countries.” said Qureshi.

Noting that the earlier meetings of the Council helped the organisation in developing meaningful mechanisms for scientific exchanges and international cooperation, he hoped that the upcoming Council meeting will further strengthen scientific linkages among the member states.

He particularly referred to the programme of International Thematic Research Groups (ITRGs) that is considered cornerstone of Comsats’ strategy for realising South-South cooperation and aims at addressing issues of national and global concern. The five operational ITRGs are in the areas of Information and Communication Technologies, Agriculture, Food Security and Biotechnology, Natural Products Sciences, Climate Change and Environmental Protection and Mathematical Modelling.

Dr. Qureshi apprised that during the two-day deliberations, the Council will review its international programmes and activities; scientific and R&D activities of Comsats’ Centres of Excellence; the activities of Comsats’ ITRGs; as well as administrative and financial matters of the organisation. Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), with patronage of Ministry of Science and Technology, will host the meeting.