In the history of nations, there comes a time, when the chasm between what its people deserve and what they are getting is so huge, that revolutionary changes are needed to restore the balance. I believe that time is now for the people of Pakistan. It does not take much to look around at statistics and news from nearly any perspective to see that the State and the existing mind set amongst the Pakistanis has moved astray from the vision of the founding fathers. I have received countless e-mails, calls and tweets from concerned Pakistanis who all want to see a fundamental change in the dangerous trajectory that Pakistan is on.The time for idle drawing room wistful talk is long gone. Nor do we have the luxury of time available to us. As individuals we have a choice to make.
Do we let the forces that are at play act themselves out to the detriment and possible destruction of the country? Or do we in our own small, individual little way do something… anything positive to stem the slide and define a path towards a New Pakistan.
We have reached this state not because of a single cataclysmic event, but because of a long series of wrong policies, wrong decisions, wrong attitudes, lack of action when it was sorely needed and wrong values. Pakistan is bleeding from a million cuts ranging from suicide bombers, drones firing missiles into people’s homes, schools being blown up, corruption amongst the leaders and power holders, Arabization of our value system to name a few.

The journey out of this deep hole is going to be equally arduous and long. But it is a journey that MUST be undertaken. This journey is not to go back to some point in our history, but to chart out a new and shared vision for a New Pakistan, in the spirit that was first formulated by the founding fathers. It is a vision in which ALL PAKISTANIs irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or social status have

Security and Access to Timely Justice.

Access to Quality Basic Education.

Access to Basic Health Care.

Access to Gainful Employment.

I’m starting an ART (AMAN,ROZI & TALEEM) social awareness campaign across Pakistan. Everyone from across the spectrum can agree on the slogan of Aman (Peace and regional harmony), Rozi (economic security) and Taleem (Education). This is a non political, non partisan and non violent movement which Pakistani women and men of all ages and inclinations can agree upon.
The first phase will require social media (twitter, facebook and skype ,TV & radio) to reach out with a new message of hope and change. Once people from all sides of the spectrum can agree on these three basic needs (Aman, Rozi and Taleem), we can initiate the second phase.

In the Second phase we will conduct town hall type events with Pakistani intellectuals, entrepreneurs, artists and humanitarians who will echo the need for pluralism and unity to counter the extremism and lack of hope that is spreading like wildfire.
Our goal is to bring about a fundamental change in the contract between the individual and the state as it is being currently practiced. It is to recalibrate the implementation of the existing Constitution and the obligations of both the State and the individual.
Our vision is for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pakistan engaged positively with the world community.
Nelson Mandela once said “It always seems impossible, until its done”

I encourage  you all to come together in unity and take the First Step on this journey.

Salman’s Message to you

Thanks for your interest in this Urgent Pak initiative. Our first step is galvanizing a social network of Pakistanis and friends of Pakistan to agree on these three imperatives (Aman,Rozi & Taleem) for all Pakistanis. We’re working on a documentary film which will highlight through arts and culture the power and resilience of Pakistan. Friends like you can help us in many ways,

• Help amplify the message of A.R.T. Campaign throughout your social media networks.
• Help us identify organizations who would like to amplify this movement across Pakistan.
• Expand your imagination on the three words (Aman,Rozi & Taleem) and what they mean to you as a Pakistani, and write an op-ed /blog in the media
• Help support our media out reach and town hall events with resources.
• Think of a better way than above to help spread ART across Pakistan.

Supporters of A.R.T

Dr. Tahir Ul Qadri, Maulana Ghamidi, Pervez Hoodboy, Akbar Ahmad, Syed Babar Ali, Amin Hashwani,Beena Sarwar, Dr.Samina Ahmad, Reza Aslan (author of How to win a cosmic war) Amy Tan (author), Stanley Wolpert (author of Jinnah) Dr.Azra Raza, DR.Tasnim Raza, Abid Shaban, Mehmal Sarfraz, Taimur Rahman (professor LUMS / Laal) Pakistani students Lums, Harvard, Columbia,Princeton, AIESEC, Dr. Mahjabeen Islam, Imraan Ghazali, Rashid rahman, Nosheen Rahman, Suhail Shaikh, plus hundreds of others.

“It’s time we understood that the Arts are huge drivers for change. Whilst many policy-makers consider the Arts to be a fluffy luxury in times of crisis, it is up to us – the creatives – not to simply produce good work, but to evaluate the success of it and to present it in a meaningful way. No where in the world is the potential for using the Arts to develop peace, jobs and education greater than in Pakistan”
- Caroline Jaine – artist, film-maker with a background in diplomacy and communication

“The 21st century is an era of connectivity and communication. The global community wants to see a strong and stable Pakistan become a vital place for A.R.T. ( peace,economic security and education).”
- Deepak Chopra

“Art transcends human frailty and weaknesses and elevates human emotions to levels that bring the best out in us. The Pakistan ART campaign promises to stir the soul of Pakistanis in these challenging times and elevate thought and action to a level that brings out the best in every human being. Most importantly, I am sure this campaign will kindle a strong desire in the hearts of Pakistanis to work towards peace with its neighbours and foster brotherly love between all those who are blessed to live in South Asia.”
-R K Pachauri, (Nobel Prize Winner)

“In my visits to Pakistan, I found a country facing tremendous difficulties with poverty, access to healthcare and education. But everywhere I went, I found a vibrant, optimistic people with a deep sense of culture and the arts. The ART campaign could not be better timed, especially for the youth of Pakistan. There can be no better effort to lift the spirits of all Pakistanis than to know that their culture and arts are gifts to be shared, not only with each other, but also with the whole world.”

-Jeff Skoll (Chairman of Skoll Foundation, co-founder and ex-President of E-bay,Chairman of Participant Production film company)

“Art enables us to look directly into the heart of the artist and appreciate his or her unique vision of the world, sense of beauty, nobility, compassion and empathy. The Pakistan Art Campaign will enable Pakistanis to appreciate the soul of their nation. And it will enable the rest of the world to look into the unique soul of Pakistan and – at a time of international tension – learn about the reality of Pakistan, which lies beneath the headlines, and come to a new understanding of the beauty, generosity, compassion and courage of the Pakistani spirit’. ‘I have come to love Pakistan and would like the world to see the country and the people as I do.”

- Karen Armstrong (Author and creator of the Charter for compassion)

“When I listen to people talk about peace efforts and concerns about Pakistan, I worry that much of the focus is short-sighted.  The future also depends on addressing the heart, soul, and mind of the younger generation–the children, youth, and young adults, those under 29, who constitute half of the world’s population.  Sooner than we think, they will decide what happens in an expanding world.  How can we prepare them to address the issues of peace that relate so much to poverty, disease, inequality, and lack of education?  One answer is obvious: By creating more gateways through the social media they are adept at using daily–Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other connection points.  That is where they create communities and have real-time dialogue about both shared interests and their uniqueness.
.
ART creates the new important portals for bridging communities.  Pakistanis are individuals with their own ways of thinking about their lives and their attitudes about the rest of the world.  ART emphasizes the daily, ongoing concerns of youth–jobs, education, and opportunities, what they need to take care of for themselves as  they look outward.  ART can go beyond the limitations of  world politics and diplomacy by going directly to the ongoing source for daily positive change:  children and youth.

I am grateful they have come on the scene. ”

–Amy Tan (Author & Activist)

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President Obama’s state of the union focused on investments into education and innovation as the key engines for maintaining USA’s leadership position in the long term. The same is equally applicable for developing countries like Pakistan. OPEN has been facilitating entrepreneurs in America for over ten years. OPEN joined hands with MIT to conduct Business Acceleration Plans as a way to doing the same in Pakistan.  It was felt that rather than focusing on start ups it would be socially more effective to take companies whose sales were $1M-$5M to the next level. This is the reason for naming it as an acceleration plan. BAP has impacted 120 companies over the last four years that it has been conducted.  The four finalists of the BAP were in Boston today and interacted with OPEN’s New England Chapter members.

As the global economy tumbled, and local conditions, both economic and political conspired to arrest their growth and development, alumni companies of the Annual OPEN/MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan Business Acceleration Plan Competition have somehow seemed to defy conventional wisdom and establish themselves as world class operators in their specific domains. You may not have heard of these entrepreneurs, nor their stories of entrepreneurial struggle and success, but it’s very likely that the products and services they provide intersect with your digital lifestyle here in the US, or directly impact the lives of friends and family members in Pakistan. Astronomical revenue growth rates that range from 3x to 50x (year over year and 3 year), addition of international operations and leverage of OPEN members’ reach and experience in international markets have made the OPEN/MITEFP BAP a signature event of Pakistan’s innovation economy.

The event for the finalists  was held at Cambridge Innovation Center, which houses nearly two hundred and fifty start ups in the Kendall Research Area of Cambridge MA.  Dr. Kenneth Morse, who has been instrumental in getting BAP off the ground, opened the event with an overview of what is happening around the world and how it relates to Pakistan.  He said that BAP’s objective was to create a vibrant and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem for Pakistan’s ambitious tech entrepreneurs. He said that BAP was from conception tethered to OPEN and that it was the wind beneath our wings. The finalists of BAP are given one week intensive training at MIT and also get to visit most of the six OPEN chapters. There they interact and network with charter members.  Each of the OPEN chapter offers a different and complementary areas of expertise.

There were two winners this year. They were accompanied by two finalists as guest speakers.

Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed, CEO NexSource - Joint Winner – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed is a visionary strategist specializing in developing innovative solutions for Healthcare Services through information technology. He holds the following positions in various companies and organizations: As a globally recognized speaker Dr. Zaki has presented on eHealth / mHealth in many international conferences around the world in the last 10 years. His list of “Pakistan’s First” include: First “Medical Call Center”, First “Hub & Spoke” Telemedicine model, First Family Health Membership Program, First Videoconferencing Studio and Services, First National & International Telemedicine / eHealth Conference and Exhibition, First TeleRadiology project, among many others. His areas of interest, expertise & experience are eHealth, mHealth, eMarketing & MedicoMarketing, eLearning, Videoconferencing & Web Conferencing, Medical Tourism & Medical Ethics.
Dr Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and a Master’s degree in Health Management and serves on the boards of various organizations.

Mr. Tanveer Sharif, CEO Vopium – Joint Winner – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Tanveer Sharif is the founder and CEO of Vopium involved in the overall management of the company by starting it from scratch and listing it today on NYSE EURONEXT in Paris. He holds a B. Sc in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School. He initiated his career in the IT field by working for Danish companies like Soft Design and Columbus IT partner. He also worked as an advisor for Danish Parliamentarians and various Danish ministries. In 2000, Tanveer Sharif joined a Not-for-profit organization where he was appointed CEO arm for Venture Cup. The main purpose of Venture Cup was to help entrepreneurs in their business start-ups. This was a successful venture for him where he created almost 80 companies and raised 40 million dollars in venture capital along with his team. In 2002- 2006, he worked as an elected member of Copenhagen County Council, where he represented his party in the Social and Health Committees. In 2010 he raised another 16 million dollars for Vopium, the largest investment that year in a Danish startup. He was runner-up for business leader of the year 2010, awarded by the crown princess Mary of Denmark.

Mr. Reza Samad, CEO Noblet – Finalist – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Reza Samad is the founder and CEO of Noblet. His business experience spans over 15 years within the technology space. Having founded Pakistan’s Automated Clearing House (ACH) for banks (nift.com), he helped revolutionize the cheque processing system in Pakistan. NiFT currently handles 95% of Pakistan clearing instruments for all banks operating in the country. Reza simultaneously founded a logistics company that could handle the transportation of clearing instruments to and from bank branches 4 times a day across the country. The operation stands at over 400 people in 20 cities catering to over 200 cities/towns in Pakistan. Reza then established Noblet Consulting representing Manpower Inc (among others) in Pakistan. A host of Soft-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications covering HR, Admin and Finance have and are being developed for roll out across the MEAA region. Noblet made the top 5 companies in the MIT Business Acceleration Program 2010 competition.

Mr. Faisal Khan, CEO, Ovex Technologies – Finalist – 2010 OPEN/MITEFP BAP

Mr. Faisal S. Khan is the CEO of Ovex Technologies Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and is a Chartered Accountant by profession. Prior to his joining Ovex Technologies, he has been working with KPMG TaseerHadi& Co. as a Partner for approximately a year and half. During his tenure of all inclusive 20 years, with KPMG TaseerHadi& Co. He spent two years with KPMG Oman, on international secondment. With KPMG, Mr. Khan has been involved primarily with assurance and some advisory work. His areas of expertise included banks and financial institutions, manufacturing concerns and retails businesses. He is well conversant with risk management and SOX requirements. He has also worked in an educational institution primarily in the field of Accountancy. He is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

The panel discussion was moderated by Imran Nasrullah, the Chief Business Officer of Massachusetts BioTech Council and Dr. Scharukh Jalisi, Directorof Boston Univerty’s  Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery. It was interesting to see that the Pakistani businesses are viewing the Middle East, Asia and Africa as areas of operation. They see these regions as not being adequaltely serviced by the established western corporations. It was exciting to see highly democratized technologies of communication and medical devices being effectively employed to deliver quality health care services to widely dispersed populations in the rural areas of Pakistan. With the infrastructure in place, these technologies and processes could be expanded to deliver other services like education. The are potentially 120 Million Pakistani who can eventually benefit from these efforts.

One thing that was evident right from the start is that the next generation of Pakistani Americans are now running OPEN. The young Dr. Bilal Zuberi, who runs VC fund, encouraged the participants to come forth with new ideas. He said that he could write a check for $200K today, without going through any process. This was also reflected by younger Pakistani students studying in the Boston universities also being present. The event was moderated Raza Sarwar is the new Vice President of OPEN New England chapter.

The Incredible OPEN Spouses

OPEN would not have been formed without the active participation of spouses. I would like to appreciate the incredible support provided by them to OPEN right from the early days to today. They were also present today to encourage the OPEN activities.

The Right Revolution

In conclusion I would like to observe that as we see revolutionary events unfold in the Middle East and Africa, that create the potential of great uncertainty but also hope;  a better way to bring about transformational change in developing countries is through innovation and entrepreneurial activities. Pakistani leadership in different domains have a unique opportunity to encourage their incredibly talented technology entrepreneurs to achieving their true potential. They also have an opportunity to leverage the Pakistani diaspora in speeding up the societal transformation that the burgeoning youth of Pakistan so desperately needs.

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Jadoo2 is the latest offering from JadooTV which allows you to view multi media content streamed off the internet on your TV screen. I had written about the first Jadoo offering earlier under the title of  “Connecting Diasporas with HomeLands” . I recently got the opportunity to experience Jadoo2 to see for myself what improvements have been made by the company since the last two years. I have tried to capture both the installation and the viewing experience of the product in this post, that could potentially help those trying to make a decision to buy, as well as show a few new features. It is an informational faucet for the mind and a source of pleasure for both the eyes and ears.

UnPacking and Installation

The experience of unpacking a well designed product reflects the inner quality of the product. For if the company provides this much attention to details to its packaging, it does not take much to imagine the effort that has gone into its internal design. Apple truly understands and excels in the dimension. While not yet at the Apple standard, Jadoo2 had made considerable strides in this department. All the components were well packaged and opened conveniently and logically. The instructions were succinct and too the point. It took me less than five minutes to hook it up to my Samsung Monitor using the HDMI cable. It configured in about five click of the remote. Even though my TV is on the third floor and wireless router in the basement on the other side of a largish house, the signal received was strong and robust using the new 11n standard. I did not need to extend the wireless USB receiver, provided as an extra with the product. You will need to register with JadooTV using the Box ID to enable the live content. I was particularly surprised by ease with which it connected with my computer’s video content through Microsoft Media Player. When I turned on the computer it prompted me to enable the link with Jadoo2, and that was it. All my media content was now available for viewing on Jadoo2.

Ergonomics

The size of the box is slightly bigger that the  first box I had evaluated. But the design is still slim and the box bit more visually pleasing. The real improvement was in the design of the new remote control.

Remote Control

The size and feel of the remote is now perfect.  The controls are logically placed and don’t overburden the memory as to what each button means. The interaction with the box is crisp and the tactile feel of pressing the button gives  positive feedback. The interaction with the playback controls is much improved, but could still use some improvements in responsiveness.

Connectivity

The device connects with the Internet through either the 10/100BASE-T Ethernet or 802.11n compliant wireless connection. Both in my opinion are equally good. I found the wireless connectivity exceptional and offering the flexibility of locating it anywhere in the house. Three USB connectors are more than what anyone would need in connecting external storage to. I liked the fact that there is a front facing USB connector for ease of access.

Video Quality

Jadoo2 with highest resolution of 1080p was more than capable of overpowering my TV which only could only handle 720p resolution. But even with that resolution it was more than adequate for experiencing the HD content. Sadly most of the movies that I browsed through were not available at the HD resolution. This is more a reflection of limited bandwidth from the servers and the compression at which the movies are being stored. I think a separate categorization of the HD content would improve the viewing experience dramatically.

Channel Offerings

The content is now organized by countries and continents. I got the pleasure of refreshing my Turkish by listening to a Turkish news broadcast. One can get the different perspectives of important news by seeing it being presented from a large number of countries from around the world. The most surreal experience was watching Pakistani flood effectee being interviewed by Taiwanese reporter.  Many of the better Bollywood movies are available in the category of Middle Releases. It was a little disappointing to see that the HD content is still lacking , which precludes the true capabilities of the device from being showcased.

Customer Support

I misread the box ID and had to interact with the customer support during the registration process.  I found Jadoo support staff to be extremely responsive.

Powerful Education Tool

Jadoo2 is mainly being marketed as an entertainment tool. The fact that it allows a shared multi media experience through connection with a large viewing device,  control using a remote and simple menu driven interface makes it an ideal educational tool at a very cost effective price. I had written about an ever increasing and large amount of quality educational content becoming available on the internet in my post titles “Rethinking Education in a Connected World” . This content is typically available through Youtube that can be viewed using Jadoo2.  A case in point are lectures from Khan Academy that are available in HD.  This kind of content when coupled with PowerPoint delivery can cover a lot of ground without the need for even a computer. PowerPoint presentation can be easily converted to JPEGs that can be streamed or viewed using USB stick. Both RCA jacks and HDMI connectors can be used for connection with a projectors The teacher only needs to copy the lecture to a USB stick and he or she is ready to present without the constraints of being close to a laptop or computer to switch through a rich multi media presentation.

The multi-cultural real time and archived content is ideal for teaching languages, current affairs and other studies requiring cultural immersion.

Room for Improvement

There are a couple of nits that would improve the product further. I was unable to back out after selecting a station that was taking long to connect. I had to wait for a rather prolonged time out period before the remote buttons became effective. I also find the need to having to go to the computer to register the ID of the box diminishing, the otherwise very efficient, installation experience. Can this not be achieved through some one time start up menu options since the connection with the server has already been established.

I think if the box had internationalization implemented in some of the major languages in its menus and documentation, it could achieve a much larger penetration in those markets.

Overall Experience

While I had not yet explored all of the features that it offers, I think it is a considerable improvement over its predecessors.  With the upcoming addition of DVR functionality with Electronic Program Guide (EPG), it would enhance its usefulness for its customers.

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Salman Ahmed is a well known musician out of Pakistan and South Asia. He is the founder of one of the most famous rock bands out of that region by the name of Junoon. He has recently written a book by the name of “Rock and Roll Jihad“. When I first heard about the book and the title it struck me as something odd. Rock and Roll and Jihad had until now not been said in the same sentence. Jihad in Arabic language means to strive. In the Islamic religious sense it means  “striving in the cause of God”. Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one’s soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting.  Having had seen Salman grow from a cute little child to what he is now, it does not take much to understand how he has used his musical skills to achieve social activism in fighting injustices, bigotry, national animosities, disease, religious misunderstandings, religious radicalism and the list goes on.

Salman could have simply been satisfied with writing and producing love songs and could have reaped the economic rewards given the fame of his band. Instead he used that fame to achieve social and political change. He rose up against the injustices of dictatorial political regimes in Pakistan, for bringing about social harmony between Indians and Pakistanis, for better understanding between the Americans and the Muslim world and AIDS awareness around the world. He has used all mediums available to him to achieve his jihad. He chose songs to bring about social change in Pakistan. He used BBC documentary videos for better understanding between the West and Muslim world and music tours to bridge the divide between Indians and Pakistanis.  I saw him and his band in action around the Boston area not only in bringing Muslim Sufi music to American ears but also the many discussions Salman would have with the audiences after the event on socio-political issues. He first started visiting the Boston region with his band performing in schools and colleges around the region. He came to Belmont Hill School and made the prep school boys dressed up in their uniforms dance on the pews in a church at 10 am to the songs of Sain etc. . He then engaged them with discussions about Islam. He has made appearances for raising money for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital with Imran Khan and raising money for earthquake victims in Pakistan. He even had the PhDs who work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory clapping and singing to the sufi music in an auditorium at the Laboratory.

His social activism and philanthropy was recognized by UN in allowing him to hold a concert in the main UN Assembly Hall in order to raise money for Swat’s displaced people in Pakistan. Many well known musicians and leaders joined him in a packed hall on that eventful night. Some images of that concert can be seen by clicking on the image on the left.

His drive for enhancing women’s rights and stigma attached to AIDS is reflected in the attached Al Vida video. This is dedicated to a woman’s fight against the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards people living with HIV & AIDS. She campaigns for access to medical treatment for all. Globally half of the people infected with HIV are women. She represents the human face of millions like her in Asia Pacific who are infected by their husbands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salman had paid the price for standing up to tyrants of various types. Ahmad and his band Junoon suffered political censorship in Pakistan during the rule of Benazir Bhutto in 1990s, partly due to a song denouncing political corruption. In 1998 during the rule of Nawaz Sharif, Junoon was again banned in Pakistan, because they protested against the nuclear power tests in India as well as their own country by saying, “Why escalate the arms race when people still need water? Why see our neighbors as enemies when we are so close to each other?”

He went public with his stance against then President Musharraf in his open letter. Full text can be seen here.

“..My support for your father’s govt  was never meant to be taken as a blank check for the state machinery to run amok and start dismantling civil institutions, making deals with crooks and plunderers, treating civil servants like common criminals, kidnapping and killing innocent Pakistanis under the guise of the “war on terror” and illegally spying, torturing and jailing thousands of Pakistanis (which include national heroes, supreme court judges, lawyers, rights activists, house wives and students).”

Ahmad denounced the Pakistani Government’s peace accord with Taliban in 2008 saying that “artists in Pakistan take their inspiration from Sufism, the tolerant and inclusive strain of Islam that is the antithesis of the beliefs of the Taliban. Commenting on the Pakistani government ‘peace agreement’ with Taliban and acceptance of ‘Sharia’ in the Swat Valley, Ahmad said, “The killing of arts and culture in Swat is an ominous sign. It is the first step in the potential Talibanization of more of the country. If you give the Taliban an inch – as Zardari has done – they will take a mile. Ahmad also suggested that, “President Asif Ali Zardari’s ill-conceived appeasement will only embolden the Taliban and may squelch more of Pakistan’s voices of peace just when Pakistanis and the world need to hear them most.”

He takes an unusual amount of time appearing on all media channels and shows in the US explaining the religious and cultural divide that exists between the East and the West, between Muslim countries and the US and the North and South.  He writes about this in his book.

The media storm after 9/11 had created an artificial divide, but I was determined to fight it. My publicist Tracy Mann booked me on radio and television to speak about our U.N. concert and help dispel some common stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. Some of the talking points I used were my own understanding of jihad and suicide. Prophet Muhammad described armed struggle against tyranny and oppression as a lesser jihad. He also warned against the dark whisperings of the nafs (ego) and called the fight against the lower self the greater jihad. The Quran says, “Man was created weak,” and it’s true. The inner jihad is a struggle for self-discovery and is about uncovering our hidden, infinite potentials. It’s about raising oneself up high (as in Iqbal’s poem “Khudi”) and never bringing others down. What the terrorists got wrong was that jihad is about overcoming our human impulses of greed, jealousy, injustice, violence, and inhumanity toward our fellow human beings.

He recently appeared in BBC’s hard talk explaining the many misunderstandings around the word Jihad and more..

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have provided specific examples on how Salman has in the past used his talents to further the causes of peace and harmony. He is an excellent role model for young and old to follow. You can follow Salman by checking out his activities at
www.junoon.com
www.ssgwi.org
twitter@sufisal

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The Core Communications and Networks Laboratory (CoNNekT Lab) at School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), is a newly established research lab under the guidance of Dr. Saad Qaisar, a Michigan State University alum. The lab currently focuses on a diverse set of areas ranging from efficient multimedia coding and communication for telecom networks to e-health monitoring solutions and medical devices. The lab’s focus is on both applied and theoretical research. For theoretical research, the emphasis is on multimedia communications over packet networks; compressed sensing; video coding and communications over the Internet and wireless networks; modeling and analysis of the stochastic behavior of communication networks, applied information theory and network optimization. For applied research, lab’s particular focus is to improve the quality of life for low-income households in developing world through the creation and implementation of low cost technologies.

The lab’s applied research approaches also aim at envisioning the impact of emerging technologies at problems that have relevance to both developed as well as developing world. There is a strong emphasis in the lab to look for ideas that have relevance in above context and convert them into finished products that can compete in both local and international markets. Ideally situated at NUST-SEECS with access to fine human resource and research infrastructure available in Pakistan and a knowledge of both developed industrialized world as well as developing world, it provides an ideal candidate for joint ventures between Pakistani academia and expatriates. The research activities of the lab are being funded by a start-up grant from NUST. Below, we have provided a summary of few activities @ CoNNekT Lab in health-care domain though lab has a wider application domain.

Wearable Health Monitoring System

Health-care has become a key constituent of the architecture of contemporary societies, however, all over the world health-care systems are clearly not performing as well as they could and as they should. People are increasingly impatient with the inability of health services to deliver levels of national coverage that meet stated demands and changing needs, and with their failure to provide services in ways that correspond to their expectations. Few would disagree that health systems need to respond better – and faster – to the challenges of a changing world. There is a growing shortage of health-care facilities worldwide, whereas the number of people requiring access to a hospital is increasing. In Pakistan there are only 8 physicians, 5 nurses and 10 hospital beds for every 10,000 in Pakistan. The result is that patients are receiving lesser than recommended care. This requires an approach that would “put people at the center of health care” by using technology as an enabler for providing effective care.

Researchers at CoNNekT Lab in collaboration with Telemedicine and e-Health Training Center, Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi are addressing health-care issues by developing a context-aware, ubiquitous system that monitors health conditions of patients in a patch form factor. The system  would be as easy to use as applying a band-aid. It would collect real-time information regarding the medical condition of patients in an unobtrusive manner both inside and outside the hospital. This collected information is pre-processed locally and then transmitted to a central station. In this way, health-care professionals have continuous access to their patient’s physiological state which allows them to respond in a better way to changing conditions. The work focuses both on device designs as well as associated signal acquisition, processing and inference. Currently, the work is being funded by NUST start-up grant and a full-fledged system level design is under review with National ICT R&D Fund.

Wireless Neonatal Care

At the Millennium Summit 2000, through the unanimous adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, all 192 United Nations member states recognized the importance of reducing child mortality. The target set for achieving this goal was to reduce by two thirds, the under-five child mortality rate between 1990 and 2015. However, in 2008 it was reported that despite progress, deaths of children under five remain unacceptably high. Furthermore, a child born in a developing country is over 13 times more likely to die within the first five years of life than a child born in an industrialized country and thirty-seven per cent (37%) of under-five deaths occur in the first month of life. Currently Pakistan ranks as the 28th country with a staggering 67.36 deaths of infants under one year per 1,000 live births.

Neonatal care is a specialty area of pediatrics that deals with the care of newborn babies, especially those in critical situations. Most babies in neonatal care are born premature or before their due date. Many babies born a month or more early won’t have fully developed lungs, and if a newborn baby is less than five pounds at birth, he/she will probably have to stay in neonatal care until sufficient weight gain is achieved. Researchers at CoNNekT Lab are developing an unobtrusive system that would allow continuous monitoring of the neonate without the need for connecting wires. This system would record vital parameters of the neonate and transmit that information wirelessly to a central server. The use of ubiquitous health monitoring systems can improve neonatal care and save countless newborns by overcoming the shortcomings of Pakistan’s health-care infrastructure. The project is currently in prototype stage and under review with Higher Education Commission, Pakistan for complete funding.

Airway Inflammation monitoring

One of the leading chronic diseases affecting more than half a billion people worldwide is asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The need to monitor airway inflammation in asthma, has led to the development of a number of noninvasive methods of assessment, including analysis of cells and cell products in sputum samples collected by means of induced sputum stimulation, as well as the measurement of exhaled markers and soluble mediators obtained from exhaled breath condensates. Recently, exhaled air temperature has also been suggested as a noninvasive method for the evaluation of airway inflammation in asthma. Doctors are particularly interested in exhaled air temperature in hot climates. Currently available devices are expensive on one hand and at the other hand the design does not cater for the hot climate of Pakistan.

Researchers at CoNNekT lab are working on designing an economical device that can scale to masses, accurately provides markers for asthma monitoring and is suitable for use in the warm climate of Pakistan.

Hierarchical Clustering for Wireless Sensor Networks

The energy constrained nature of wireless sensor nodes, large multi-hop Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) must be organized in a way that enables scalable routing, data aggregation, and querying. In order to minimize the effort involved in the deployment and maintenance of a large WSN, it is highly desirable that the organization should be maintainable with minimal human intervention. The communication cost between nodes is much higher as compared to computation cost. One-to-one communication between all the nodes depletes their energy quickly which otherwise can be utilized for useful computations. A complex network of sensor nodes can be simplified using clusters.

Researchers at CoNNekT lab are developing energy efficient cluster selection mechanisms which would help increase the lifetime of sensor nodes and aid in development of a multi-tier sensor network architecture. (See here for publications)

Distributed Video Coding for Wireless Sensor Networks

Distributed video coding, a well established paradigm, refers to separate encoding at the sensor nodes and joint decoding at the base-station. It is suitable for visual sensor networks due to lower power consumption of encoding algorithm. The challenges include limited power and processing capabilities of sensor platform.

Researchers at CoNNekT lab aim is to develop a practical framework of robust and energy efficient multimedia (image/video) transmission over wireless visual sensor networks.

Safety Assurance in High Stress Environments

Pakistan is a country blessed with very rich underground mineral resources. New areas are continuously being explored with possible mineral deposits. According to some sources, country’s more than 6,00,000 sq.kms of outcrops area demonstrates varied geological potential for metallic/non-metallic mineral deposit. In the recent past, exploration by government agencies as well as by multinational mining companies presents ample evidence of the occurrences of sizable minerals deposits. Recent discoveries of a thick oxidized zone underlain by sulfide zones in the shield area of the Punjab province, covered by thick alluvial cover have opened new vistas for metallic minerals exploration. Furthermore, the discovery of coal deposits having over 175 billion tons of reserves at Thar in the Sindh province has given an impetus to develop it as an alternate source of energy.

Researchers at CoNNekT lab are developing a safety assurance system for high stress environments such as underground mines and oil & gas installations. The developed system would be used for monitoring the presence and/or concentration of toxic gases of harsh environments, monitoring structural integrity, detecting the collapse in case of accidents and localizing the collapses as well. The project is a joint venture between CoNNekT lab, NUST (Principal Investigator) and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The funding for the project is under review with National ICT R&D Fund.

For further information on CoNNekT Lab, you may like to contact: connektlab at seecs.edu.pk or lab director directly: saad.qaisar at seecs.edu.pk

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Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH & RC) is a state-of-the-art specialist cancer center dedicated to providing the best possible care to all patients, irrespective of their ability to pay. The hospital was the brain-child of Pakistan’s star cricketer Imran Khan, and was built in the memory of his late mother, Mrs Shaukat Khanum who suffered from cancer in the late 1980’s and eventually passed away. The shocking lack of cancer treatment in a developing country, like Pakistan and the resulting agony of millions became the inspiration for a global fundraising campaign by Imran Khan for a cancer care facility which would eventually become Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. His shared this dream with millions of people and after a ground breaking ceremony in 1990 and, with an estimated project cost of US $ 24 million , the hospital was completed as promised in a span of four years.

Cancer Research

Research is a top priority at SKMCH&RC, with an active clinical research office involved in several international collaborative research projects and clinical trials. There is a contemporary data management team responsible for an advanced medical record system and the development of an institutional and province wide cancer registry. A basic science lab has been equipped with latest in molecular biology technology and genetic experimentation.  SKMCH&RC is fulfilling its vision to be a leader in cancer research in Pakistan. Despite these three fully functional units dedicated to research activity there was a need for a centralized research section housing each of these divisions in a shared and organized space thereby encouraging interaction and collaborative work.

April 27, 2006 marked the much anticipated inauguration of the Abdul Hafeez Cancer Research Wing at the hospital. The facility is the result of over whelming generosity of Begum Tasneem Naeem who donated Rs30 million for this cause in the memory of her late father, Mr Abdul Hafeez. The new research wing has an area of approximately 15,000 square feet and is furnished with state of the art equipment. It has one main, two standard and several auxiliary laboratories constructed in accordance with international bio safety standards. It also houses a large conference room and a library, the clinical research office and the data management office.

Clinical Research Office

The Clinical Research Office is the standing office of research. It acts as a main liaison between researchers, collaborators, sponsors and patients. The office has a team of doctors who are well familiar with international standards of research conduct and facilitates linking patients to clinical research. The office also facilitates scientific peer review of  clinical studies to determine their scientific validity and provides support to the Hospital Ethics Review Committee (called Institutional Review Board, IRB). The IRB safeguards the well being and rights of human subjects who participate in research and has physician as well as lay members. The Chair is always a non-SKM individual, thus reducing institutional bias. Our IRB is registered with Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP) at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, making us one of very few research organizations in Pakistan to have obtained this registration. It certifies our compliance with well-defined standards essential for the welfare of human subjects involved in research. We are conducting a number of clinical trials in diverse therapeutic areas, most of which are linked to cancer. Many of these are being conducted in collaboration with international pharmaceutical companies and are part of a joint, multinational effort. Apart from these we are also engaged in collaborative research with other international research organizations and groups like Cancer Research UK, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany , International Network of Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR) and the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG). We have recently also acquired membership of the prestigious Breast International Group (BIG), which is a non-profit organisation for academic breast cancer research groups. With these research efforts we aim to make a positive impact on the general lack of awareness and education about research and ensure our participation in international therapeutic trials, which would allow advancements in treatments and care at a faster pace. Similarly with our institutional and international collaborators we strive to conduct clinical research that is more responsive to the health needs and priorities of our community.

Cancer Registry and Clinical Data Management

The Cancer Registry and Clinical Data Management (CRCDM) unit is responsible for maintaining the hospital based cancer registry and compiling a disease specific index (cancerous and non cancerous) using international classification systems. The CRCDM unit has qualified experienced statisticians and epidemiologists as part of its team and is actively involved in cancer epidemiological research with several publications to its credit. The CRCDM unit is involved in generating cancer statistics from the registry database using our advanced medical records system. The computerized Cancer Registry at SKMCH & RC is a data system designed for collection, management, and analysis of detailed data on patients registered at the Hospital. The Cancer Registry at the Hospital has been functioning since the inauguration of the Hospital in December 1994. Every year the Registry generates cancer statistics according to sex, age, demographic area, topography, morphology, stage, grade etc. To further study the epidemiology of cancers, the unit is attempting to develop a population based city wide cancer registry with the collaboration of other hospitals and laboratories in Lahore. The registry is also involved in conducting a pilot project on breast cancer screening in a locality close to the hospital.

Basic Science Research Laboratory

The Basic Science Research Laboratory at SKMCH&RC is equipped to conduct molecular, cellular and genetic studies. The lab is involved in trying to gain information about genetic and environmental risk factors for common cancers in Pakistan, through combined epidemiological and basic science studies. An important development in this respect has been the initiation of a research project testing BRCA1/2 mutations (a genetic change strongly associated with breast and/or ovarian cancers) in Pakistani women at high risk of developing breast and/or ovarian malignancies.

Specific viruses have also being linked to cancer; studies are being conducted to explore the role of known pathogens in the development of cancer in our population, with the hope that effective preventive measures will reduce the number of cases. The immunology and pathogenesis of different cancers is currently being explored through a number of research projects by the research scientists of SKMCH&RC to find better ways to diagnose cancer at early stages and to monitor effectiveness of treatment.

Social Impact

SKMCH&RC is also involved in helping postgraduate students from other institutions to utilize the expertise and resources of the of the research group at Shaukat Khanum Hospital in the course of completion of their research work for their post graduate degree program. Many students from several prestigious universities of the country have benefited from this programme.

The Hospital has a team of UK and US trained physicians who provide diagnostic, treatment and support facilities to its cancer patients. Patients are provided multi-disciplinary care by a team of medical, radiation and surgical oncologists supported by world class pathology and imaging services and a specialized pharmacy .The hospital has indigenously developed fully integrated software “Hospital Information System” which maintains the diagnostic and treatment record of each patient and is accessible to the concerned doctors and staff on a real time basis. The institution has a dynamic educational and a recognized training program for doctors including the only nursing oncology program in the region.

At SKMCH&RC every effort is made to ensure that the quality of services being provided to the patients is being constantly monitored and enhanced. To date, thirteen departments from the hospital including clinical as well non clinical are ISO 9001:2000 certified. The hospital also conducts regular monthly meetings called Morbidity and Mortality meetings where (peer) review of errors occurring during care of patients is carried out. Another monthly activity is Clinical Audits which are also aimed at highlighting important issues and making recommendations for future improvements. We have also implemented a system of patient feed back and Annual Patient Satisfaction Surveys to assess patient satisfaction level and bring about improvement in patient care.

SKMCH&RC has always strived to keep its facilities updated to international standards. In keeping with this mission, the first bone marrow transplantation procedure was carried out on April 26, 2006 making it the first such facility in Lahore. The transplantation which costs about £ 14,000 was conducted absolutely free of cost. Another milestone in this respect was the acquisition of Pakistan’s first ever PET –CT scan facility, an essential tool in the early diagnosis, accurate staging and precise treatment of cancer, on February 08, 2010. As part of our mission to provide free of cost care this scan will be provided without charge to the deserving patients and at a fraction (Rs 32,000) of its actual cost (abroad) to the rest of the patients.

Today Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital provides state of the art cancer treatment to approximately 4000 new cancer patients annually, and provides absolutely free of cost treatment to approximately 70% of these patients. Another 10% are provided financial support.

Author

Dr. Mariam Hassan works at the Clinical Research Office of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan. Her main area of work is clinical trials chiefly cancer treatment trials (phases II to IV). She is currently enrolled in a post graduate diploma in biomedical ethics at Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC), Karachi, Pakistan. Her research interests are in areas of ethics of clinical research in a developing country.

Email: hermia_79@hotmail.com

This post also appeared on All Things Pakistan at

http://pakistaniat.com/2010/06/14/shaukat-khanum-memorial-hospital-and-research-center/

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How we educate ourselves from childhood onwards is something that has evolved over the centuries, and the processes are deeply ingrained in our psyches. There are some very good evolutionary reasons for the existing educational system that seem to work just fine amongst the well to do in the developed countries.  At the same time we have seen that application of technology has revolutionized a number of other human activities and the old systems of doing business have either crumbled or have had to rapidly evolve with the changing environment. They range from journalism, advertising,  health delivery, travel, communications and so on. So it should be not surprising that technology also rock the education boat. When we typically think of the application of technology to education, the image that commonly comes to mind is that of students using computers and accessing internet. That may have been a start, but now there are a host of other capabilities that allow for our creativity to wander freely to explore. My goal here is to make you think about the new possibilities to restructuring how we educate the all humans that inhabit this planet. I would like you to be audacious with me for a while.

Free Online Courses

Getting a world class course in any subject is currently a very expensive proposition as the Universities guard the intellectual property of the courses offered through them. But a growing number of world class teachers are slowly but surely starting to offer the courses that they teach in the universities on the web. More importantly these courses are offered to everyone free of cost.  The persistent inherent in on line content is further leveraged by those courses whose content does not depreciate in value with time as the nature of the content is timeless.  The courses in this category would be in mathematics, sciences, engineering, history, economics etc..

MIT offers 1900 courses in areas of Architecture, Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management at MITOPENCOURSEWARE.

Stanford University being from the Apple Land offers its courses through the slick iTunes interface at Stanford to go. So you can download it to Apple devices like iPod, iPad or iPhone and learn while you are on the go.

Berkeley University goes a step further and webcasts or podCasts some of its current courses at webcast.berkeley.

Diploma Guide portal is good place to surf around for the best courses from top universities.

But if you were a high school student and needed assistance with more basic stuff, there is plenty of assistance online for you as well.

Khan Academy offers over 1200 courses on videos in some standard fare as Biology, Algebra, History and Banking. But also gets into some esoteric areas of Venture Capital, Valuation, Credit Crisis and Geithner Plan. I particularly liked the style of delivery and the tools used. Salman Khan has also installed tools to monitor the progress of a student using the reporting inherent in on line delivery of content. This feedback can be effectively used by teachers for timely assistance on a need basis.

My favorite site for topics of more general nature are the videos available from a wide assortment of topics at TED. Companies also offer a wide variety of free courses on their products.

Free Access to Books

For those who have taken a college education we all know the high cost of buying course books. Having access to quality books is a key part of the quality of any course.  Here too there are many places already on the net offering an ever burgeoning list of books.

Project Gutenberg offers over 30,ooo eBooks that can be downloaded from their site.

Google is in the process of digitizing all the books in the world. Their current offering can be seen at Google Books.

The Open Content Alliance (OCA) is a consortium of organizations contributing to a permanent, publicly accessible archive of digitized texts. Its creation was announced in October 2005 by Yahoo!, the Internet Archive, the University of California, the University of Toronto and others. Scanning for the Open Content Alliance is administered by the Internet Archive, which also provides permanent storage and access through its website.

Cheap Availability of Smart Wireless Devices

As the wireless devices get smarter and cheaper, the numbers of people that they would appeal to would mushroom and economy of scales will kick in. The wireless wide band infrastructure enables its deployment to a much wider market then the wired systems because of the inherent efficiencies. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)is one such initiative that is aimed at getting low cost computers into the hands of teeming millions of children around the globe in developing countries. Over a million of their first generation computers  have already been sold to a number of countries. While the target goal is that of $100, they are currently priced at double that price.

Intel’s response to OLPC was Classmate PC which is more powerful and somewhat more costly.  Its latest model boast a tablet format as well.

Kindle and iPad offer new capabilitees for the eBook market. Low Cost Smartphones also have the potential for an interactive delivery of educational content. HTC, Nokia, LG and Samsung are driving the price of smart phones down to under $100. When that price barrier gets broken it will make it an attractive alternative to perform computing with interactivity to laptops.

Low Cost Tutoring

There are a number of on-line tutoring services offering their services for school and college going students. Tutor.com announced that they have reached a major milestone that no other company can claim—5 million on-demand and one-to-one live online tutoring sessions. Tutor.com’s network of tutors have conducted 5 million sessions in core subject areas including math, science, English and social studies since the company first offered students the opportunity to connect to a real, live tutor online in 2000 in one of the first online classrooms.

TutorVista provides world-class tutoring and high-quality content to students around the world -- anytime, anywhere and in any subject. It has been successful in connecting together 2000 tutors in 98 cities to  20, 000 students across 48 countries. You can get a comparison of the five top tutoring companies here.

Pull Based Self Paced Education

The fundamental change that technology is offering is on line persistence of knowledge and educational processes. This is the first time that such an option is becoming readily available to all those who can access the internet around the world. The investments in the communication infrastructure, diving costs of disk space, cloud computing and low cost computing are all playing an enabling role. This provides an opportunity of colossal proportions to educators to create the best of breed courses in a structured and multilingual way for the benefit of all. One such pioneer is Salman Khan who articulates his vision in the video below.

I think he makes a very compelling insight of the real value of schools and colleges in the coming era. While currently students go there to get the content of the course material, their real value in a connected age is going to be a place where students go to get their home work done.

Teach Computer Languages with Other Languages

Having seen young kids manipulate computers at a very early age and their near limitless abilities to learn new languages make me think if we are missing a very big opportunity to teach computing languages along with the traditional languages in schools. With computers manifesting them in nearly all facets of our lives, does it now make sense to learn how to manipulate or program them, rather than being simply users of whatever video games or applications that have been written for them. I believe that programming concepts can be gradually introduced starting from middle school and programming languages in high school. It does not take much to imagine the unfair advantage a student with programming capabilities has over someone who does not when the enter the work force or college.

Future School System in Your Town

It is a well known fact that students develop their mental faculties in different areas at different rates. Yet we educate kids as if their learning rates of all the faculties are the same. In future, bulk of what is taught in lectures will be delivered as a webinar or pulled from the web at a place of student’s convenience. Students will go to school for interacting with teachers to deal with things they don’t understand, conducting labs and physical activities. The students will adjust the level of course difficulty based on their abilities. It would not be uncommon for a high school student taking college level courses in some subjects and middle school level courses in others. For unusually good students in a particular area, employers would start paying for work even when they may not have formally graduated from school or college. We are already starting to see this in the gaming industry. We are also beginning to see online universities evolve this model that holds the promise of low cost degrees that are accredited.

The open-source software model has shown that it is possible  to create  free and quality software ( intellectual property) through collaboration on the web. This model can also be followed in creating the intellectual property of lectures by world experts in different domains. There is a need for global universities that offer large number of courses in diverse subjects that are nearly free of cost and are globally accredited. Governments and philanthropic organizations could play a big role in establishing such entities in line with the vision described by Salman Khan of Khan Academy.

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I had the good fortune of meeting three amazing Pakistanis who are in the process of changing the Pakistani society. They are young in years but mature and savvy in technology, business and the art of managing dynamic organizations. They share traits that are common to global entrepreneurs of self drive, respect for time, global market awareness,  getting quickly to the bottom of things and balancing priorities. All three of them got their education and training outside Pakistan and are now inculcating and mentoring Pakistanis with what they learned abroad.  As it turns out they are spearheading in the three synergistic technological areas of education, research and industry. Sometimes the stars get aligned and the right opportunities are given to people with the right credentials and motivations.

Dr. Qasim Sheikh

Dr. Sheikh is the CEO of ICT R&D fund that was created to fund research from the profits of the telecom sector in Pakistan. This is one of the great things that has happened for research in Pakistan.  It is unusual to find an academic with a strategic sense of research to maximize social impact.  His background of having worked in industry, research and academia is serving him well in his current role.  His vision is “to transform Pakistan’s economy into a knowledge based economy by promoting efficient, sustainable and effective ICT initiatives through synergistic development of industrial and academic resources”. Some of the notable ICT funded projects are

• Development of Open Source Human Machine Interface called OpenControl.

• Design and Implementation of Health Level 7 (HL7) Open Source Application for e-health Services

The aim of this project is to carry out research in healthcare by developing Health Level 7-based software framework in order to provide health services for diverse communities of the world. The envisaged development of HL7 middleware software will be focused on healthcare information systems already in use. The objective is to facilitate e-health services interoperable among various domains in the field such as laboratory, patient administration, pharmacy, billing and accounting etc.

• An Artificial Immune System Based General Purpose Intrusion Detection System

• Conversion of NGOSS Compliant, Web 2.0 Enabled Mediator, Rater and Biller Applications

Open source Billing and Customer Support software is a suite of applications that will fulfill all basic requirements of back office Billing and Customer Care of any Wireless or Wireline Service Providers.

• Massively Parallel Fingerprint Recognition System Architecture for Performing Multi Million Matches per Second

This project will develop a high speed FPGA-based scalable Fingerprint Recognition System Architecture. The architecture will be scalable for higher throughput applications. The project aims to develop algorithms, which can be efficiently mapped in Hardware for subsequent mapping on FPGA-based system. The project proposes to develop this massively parallel fingerprint recognition system architecture for performing multimillion matches per second for high-density applications.

He is in the process of establishing Centers of Innovations across Pakistan in

• Developing Next Generation Service and Network Management Systems
• SME Productivity Improvement
• eHealth
• Agriculture Sector
  
• Education Sector
  
• Energy Sector
• Security Sector

Dr. Arshad Ali

Dr. Ali is the Director General of School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS) and the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad Pakistan. He blends the diverse traits of an academic, administrator and an entrepreneur. When he showed me around the SEECS building, I was struck by the fact that he has established numerous relationships with industries in leveraging his educational facilities. This practical education is going to prepare NUST students to hit the ground running as they enter the work force. It also inculcates a culture of entrepreneurism which is so much needed in Pakistan.

He has over 90 publications to his credit in national and international conferences & refereed journals. He has been awarded gold medal by Pakistan Academy of Sciences and COMSTECH for IT research, Presidents’ Gold medal for best researcher of the year 2005 and “Distinguished Scientists of the Year 2006” award by Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Dr Arshad initiated research collaboration with Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland and earned the Associate Institute status of CMS-CERN for National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST). Dr Arshad formed a joint consortium with University of the West of England UK, Beijing Institute of Technology China , University of South Britteny France and NUST Pakistan.

You can see his interview with “In the Line of Wire” here.

Mr. Monis Rahman

It is difficult to do justice to Mr. Rahman in one blog. He has done more in his short lifetime than most of us can do in our entire life. He went from being a hard core chip designer working on the Itanium CPU for Intel into building world class portals on the web. Being a hardware engineer I can only marvel at the plasticity of his brain. What I found intriguing in listening to him was his drive and business sense that most of the engineers tend to lack. One of the lessons is that you don’t have to get an MBA degree to learn how to start and grow a company. His decision to go back to Pakistan when he was at the peak of his carrier in the US and change his skill set to make that happen, is a true sign of an entrepreneur willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve a goal. He is the CEO of Naseeb Network ” A Muslim Social Network”  and Rozee, the number one jobs portal in Pakistan. Even OPEN has collaborated with Rozee to create a jobs portal for the Pakistan Americans in the US at http://open.rozee.pk .

You can learn more about how he started his internet companies and where he is headed in the video below.

He likes to think big. His next endeavors are going to blend the web portals with cell phones and mobile devices to bring real time location centric services to the web.

These three gentlemen represent a new breed of entrepreneurs that will create the high margin intellectual property based industries that will be globally competitive. They are in the process of changing the social landscape of Pakistan by empowering everyone with the possibilities of acquiring advanced skills and deploying them efficiently.  They are Pakistan’s only hope in developing high value jobs and generate foreign exchange that will make her truly sovereign.

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Pakistan’s current export of engineering goods stands at around $243 million out of total exports of $19 Billion. If we are to also include $300 Million in defense oriented exports and $169 Million in Software products and services exports, the total high margin high tech industrial export is a meager $712 Million for last year.

Bulk of Pakistan’s exports is either in commodities or in textiles.Both these categories are low margin and resource intensive in nature. Because of Pakistan’s inability to generate foreign exchange it has to depend on unpredictable foreign remittances and foreign aid.This increased dependence is resulting in increasingly intrusive terms associated with such packages, as exemplified by the Kerry-Lugar Bill. The cost of maintaining the seventh largest armed forces cannot be maintained by export of commodities and textiles. The defense equipment unit costs are in the order of $80 Million per aircraft and $300 Million per submarine. This structural weakness is strategically going to have an adverse impact on Pakistan’s defense posture as well as the ability to provide an adequate standard of living for her increasing population. Pakistan has many things going for it that should help her in overcoming these shortcomings if the leadership decides to make the necessary structural changes and put into place longer term plans. Most developed nations transitioned from being agrarian societies into modern post-industrial societies over centuries. Pakistan on the other hand needs to make this transition within the next twenty years or it will slide even further backwards with respect to countries in its neighborhood.
There is no reason why Pakistan’s high tech exports over the next twenty year period should not be more than $60 Billion per year based on the number of quality engineers she creates and her investments defense and infrastructure. This will not happen in a haphazard manner of stove pipe thinking and lack of focus and planning. There is a need for establishing a long term plan (over 20 years) which focuses resources in just a couple of markets. By excelling globally in those markets will bring in the necessary Return On Investments (ROI). Pakistani defense forces have developed capabilities to produce complex weapon systems. No leading defense manufacturer in the world is run by a defense force. There are many reasons, too numerous to enumerate here. Pakistan needs to transition the defense industry to responsible civil ownership that is globally competitive. Pakistan can overcome lack of middle and top management by engaging the Pakistani technical diaspora. She needs to create an eco system that is conducive to the growth of technical entrepreneurs. We have the world’s premier manufacturing base in China that could be leveraged in all sorts of ways. The leading educational institutions and research laboratories should be challenged to create intellectual property to excel in the targeted industries. Some percentage of defense expenditure should be channeled to funding research in these institutes in a model similar to that of DARPA in the US. A public private venture fund needs to be created that will fund the startups in the selected areas. The pace can be further accelerated by buying foreign companies. The diaspora can identify and provide the senior management needed of these key technology acquisitions.
Should we choose to make these changes; the impact will be felt across the society as the new wealth can be channeled towards the well being of the general population.

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January 5^th., 2010

National University of Science and Technology is a combination of many colleges that were setup to take care of defense needs, as well as some others. Its main sprawling campus occupies a complete Islamabad sector of H-12. I had the opportunity to visit the campus in my recent visit to Pakistan and had the privilege of speaking at a seminar titled “Commercialization of Ideas”. There is a growing sensitivity at NUST to translate research being done there into the commercial domain. The three main speakers covered the subject from different perspectives.

From Mind to Market – Ms. Madeeha Owais
Business Acceleration Program – Mr. Azhar Rizvi
OPEN Platform Opportunities – Mr. Imran Khan

Dr. Arshad Ali (Director SEECS) opened the session by describing the research achievements by the NUST faculty and students. He also talked about the patenting activities undertaken by NUST. Ms. Owais focused on the different aspects of IP licensing. Mr. Rizvi talked about the success stories resulting from the three years of BAP activities and the establishment of angel network. The result of mentoring of BAP winners by MIT Enterprise Forum and OPEN has resulted in spectacular increases in sales as well as valuations. My talk focused on describing OPEN’s history, goals, structure and activities. I also shared my observations about Pakistani technology landscape based on running an operation in Pakistan for five years, and offered suggestions about how to effectively channel research and IP development. Secretary of IT, Mr. Nagibullah Malik, spoke about the government’s efforts to make IT as successful as the telecom sector. The seminar was attended by NUST faculty, students and business members who interacted with the speakers in the Q&A panel.

There are over a dozen research groups in the SEECS department alone. I was impressed by the works of Dr. Syed Ali Khayam in Network Security, Dr. Hafiz Farooq Ahmad in Semantics applied to Health solutions and Dr. Rehan Hafiz in Image Processing.

Dr. Qasim Sheikh educated me about the availability of considerable research money available through ICT R&D fund. This money is contributed through the profit of telecom operators and is available for any research area.

I had graduated from College of Aeronautical Engineering which is now part of NUST. The graduating class size of G courses was just twenty or so then. Despite this I was pleasantly surprised to see its graduates leading both in industry and academia. CAE was funded by US tax payer and modeled after US AFIT. If such a small college can make such an impact, NUST is destined to make a major impact on the technical future of Pakistan.

more photos at http://www.softserv-intl.com/NUST2010/

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