SIREN to link all educational institutes for learning, teaching and research

The establishment of the Sindh Innovation, Research & Education Network (SIREN) is a major initiative for a province-wide distance-less education programme to promote knowledge and to improve the quality of education and research.

SIREN was jointly established by the Government of Sindh and the University of Karachi’s Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Centre (LEJNSIC) and International Centre for Chemical & Biological Sciences (ICCBS).

“The idea of such a seamless learning platform was approved by the chief minister,” said ICCBS Director Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary on Thursday while delivering the inaugural speech of a one-day workshop.

Titled ‘Process and Perks of Commercialising Academic Research’, the workshop was held at the Prof Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Auditorium at the ICCBS, whose acting director Prof Dr Farzana Shaheen also spoke on the occasion.

The LEJNSIC and SIREN had jointly organised the workshop, which was mainly conducted by Dr Mir Dost, who is serving as an assistant professor of entrepreneurship & innovation management in the Department of Management Sciences at the Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water & Marine Sciences in Balochistan’s Uthal city.

Dr Choudhary said that the primary objective of SIREN was to use a modern information & communications technology platform for enhancing research capacity, pedagogical skills and quality of content, as well as to promote research collaboration between institutions of higher learning in Sindh.

He said SIREN will link all the universities of the province and their campuses, and later colleges and schools as well, through the most modern yet cost-effective technologies that will enable everyone to be engaged in learning, teaching and research activities through the focal centre at the LEJNSIC.

The purpose of this one-day workshop was to understand the importance of academic research.