4G services are available for broadband connectivity . Chairman PTA

ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )

The Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), University of Gujrat (UoG) in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and British Council, under Researchers Link Initiative, is organizing a four-day workshop entitled “Emerging 5G Technologies for Disaster Management”.

Inaugural session of the workshop was held at Higher Education Commission Secretariat, Islamabad. Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, was the chief guest.

Emerging 5G Technologies in Disaster Management facilitate an emergency and disaster recovery operation. The characteristics and advantages of 5G technology makes it a useful and feasible solution for communication services in extreme emergency situations where the fast and effective deployment of communication network infrastructure is impossible.

The main objective of the workshop is to create awareness for this technology and open new dimensions to the researchers to explore the disaster and emergency management 5G technologies through knowledge sharing and random interaction. It will help local researchers to confront the disasters with the 5G technologies and research on new domains.

The themes of panel discussions include Role of Electronic and Social Media in Disaster Management, Role of Law Enforcement Agencies in Disaster Management, Role of Academia in Disaster Management, and Role of Civil Society and Community in Disaster Management.

Speaking at the occasion, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed said that under HEC, British Council collaboration, a number of projects are being undertaken by different universities. He appreciated the University of Gujrat for organizing the workshop, adding that our researchers should focus on research that has an impact on the society.

The Chairman also highlighted achievements of HEC for transforming the higher education culture in Pakistan as well as steps to improve universities’ physical and technological infrastructure. He elaborated the concept of Smart Universities which will create enabling environment for the academic community by providing WiFi blanket coverage throughout the campus, advanced ICT enabled e-classrooms, and automated assessment of programme and course learning objectives delivery to students. “Under this project, HEC aims to facilitate students as well as faculty to have access to digital resources and advanced ICT tools to complement their learning and teaching experiences at the universities. It will provide easy and wide access of internet throughout the campus and conducive learning opportunities within the classrooms.”

Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that PTA will facilitate institutions for service testing and technical support. He said that 4G services are available in Pakistan about broadband connectivity in all IT based systems, adding that spectrum should be available for 5G technology.

Prof. Dr. Zia ul Qayyum, Vice Chancellor UoG thanked the Higher Education Commission and British Council for providing a platform to elucidate how the 5G emergency management is currently being professionalized and internationalized. “The major argument for the internationalization of the workshop is to explore advance contributions to disaster studies and will continue to do so as research steps across foreign territories.”