National Science, Technology, Innovation Policy to encourage technology driven economy : Shibli Faraz

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz on Wednesday said the first-ever National Science, Technology and Inno­vation Policy would not only bring revolution in the field of science and technology but also create economic activity in the whole country. 

“This policy will help en­courage technology driven economy through engaging industry, academia and the government”, the minister said during an interview with APP. The federal min­ister said, “Two such poli­cies were formulated in the 1984 and 2009 respective­ly which failed or remained partially successful due to lack of implementation tools and action plan. Such laws which are not imple­mentable are of no use”. 

Considering the same view, the ministry had for­mulated this policy with a proper action plan by tak­ing all the stakeholders on board and incorporating the valuable inputs of aca­demia, industry, scientists, technologists and experts. 

The action plan had 62 policy statements and all the tools for achieving the targets. The policy would be shared with the public soon, he said. 

He added that this policy would be a master plan for progress of the coun­try, which would illustrate role of research and devel­opment departments and would help create a strong linkage between industry, academia (Research and Development) and the gov­ernment. Earlier, these de­partments were working in isolation and caused wast­age of resources with no outcomes, he added. Shibli Faraz said since the policy was action-driven, they had to focus on need based re­search through which prod­ucts could be developed. “We are inculcating such a culture where research would be done for achiev­ing practical results, not only academic purpose.

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