High time to focus on media education and research

Rawalpindi : International Media Conference 2021 kick started at Fatima Jinnah Women University. International Media Conference 2021 titled ‘Digital Media Ecologies in the New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities’ commenced here on Wednesday at the Fatima Jinnah Women University premises. The conference will continue on February 18th, 2021.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology. Fawad Chaudhary was the chief guests for the conference. This conference is being held at the time when there is a dire need to discuss the role of the media in our contemporary societies. Media and Communication Departments are mushrooming fast in the country and it is highly imperative for them to focus on the quality of research to support academic training of young researchers and also to provide the empirical evidence needed for the policy making especially in the areas such as Misinformation, Data Journalism and Social Media regulations.

The Conference is in line with the vision of the Vice Chancellor, FJWU, Dr. Saima Hamid, who is determined to bring Pakistani academic research at power with international standards. During her inaugural speech, she said that Fatima Jinnah Women University, which is the first ever women University in Pakistan is organising this conference to provide young energetic and dynamic Pakistani females a platform to network and excel in academic research. Provision of International exposure is what we envision and that is what my faculty is working on tirelessly to ensure. She stressed that investment in women education and research can contribute tremendously in the development of a country.

She further announced that the conference will follow a 9-Days International Doctoral School organized in collaboration with Association of Media and Communication Academic Professionals (AMCAP), Punjab Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (PHEC) and International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

Adding upon this she highlighted that 'a total of 13 international scholars and a diverse team of academicians and media experts will provide support to research scholars in Pakistan' Fatima Jinnah Women University is committed to provide excellent academic environment for its students. Almost 19,024 young females have graduated from Fatima Jinnah Women University in the last twenty-three years from all across Pakistan and majority of them has taken aspiring career dimensions and university is proud of them. Keeping this significance in mind, First ever Women University is swiftly moving towards its Internationalization and collaborative International Projects, International Degree Programs, Collaborative Conferences are the part of this plan.

The university has successfully partnered with Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and have signed numerous MoU’s with Renowned National and International Universities and Bodies. She was hopeful that the institution will be transformed into a research hub and it provide empowerment to our females. She stressed this by saying that “just as women’s rights are human rights, women’s progress is human progress’ The Chief Guest of the event was Salim Ghauri, Founder & CEO NetSol, who is one of the best known figures from the Pakistani IT industry. He has been cited as the 'Bill Gates of Pakistan', a reference to his incredible achievements as an IT entrepreneur. He lauded the efforts of FJWU and said the IT revolution is already here in Pakistan.