KICS has been highlighted as the pioneer initiative among the research organizations in Pakistan by a joint survey of Knowledge Platform and British Council.
KICS has been highlighted as the pioneering initiative among the research organizations in Pakistan by a joint survey of Knowledge Platform and British Council.
“Two pioneering itiatives, one led by a government-controlled university and the other by a government-controlled fund, are setting a paradigm for transformation not only for these disciplines but the entire university sector.
The Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS) at UET and Ignite both owe their success to exceptional leadership, an autonomous and supportive governance arrangement, and a relentless focus on commercialisation and collaboration.”
Founded in 2002, KICS now has over 25 labs, focused on computing, telecommunications, energy and automation and has engaged in over 100 research collaborations with national and international universities, government agencies and businesses. The culture at KICS promotes practical innovation, collaboration and commercialisation. Its innovations include an Urdu language search engine, a grid control-and-monitoring system implemented by utilities in Pakistan and an acoustic surveillance system, which is used by the Punjab Safe Cities Authority.
Dr Waqar Mahmood, who has directed KICS for 10 years, states: “Our focus is to engage, and, if possible, engage commercially, and to innovate without too much regard to publication. For example, we developed a solar lighting system to enable underprivileged students to do their homework at night. It has had a very positive impact but didn’t generate anything worthy of publication. In one case, we worked with industry to develop an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, even though the customer did not have money to pay. At other times, we work with international companies and government agencies to deliver solutions that meet their needs, and we make money. Of our total annual PKR 150 million R&D funding, we secure roughly 40% from HEC and generate the rest from other sources. Sometimes, our work doesn’t even involve applied research. We manage a large training programme on behalf of Huawei—it is remunerative and it helps our faculty understand and speak to industry priorities. It is less important at this stage in our development to ask whether we are doing research, training or consultancy work: the important objective is to nourish a culture of commercially-oriented, collaborative and engaged problem-solving innovation.”
The University Research System in Pakistan, page 63-64
