Supporting the Establishment of a Computer Science MS CS Program in the University of The Gambia
A well thought out and strategically outlined project “Supporting the Establishment of a Computer Science MSCS Program in the University of The Gambia” convincingly comes to its conclusion. This report is a synopsis of activities that took place amidst collaboration between Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS), UET Lahore and the University of the Gambia (UTG) under the umbrella of IsDB Technical Cooperation Program.
Technical Cooperation Program under ISDB provided an opportunity to Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS), UET Lahore to assist the University of Gambia (UTG) in the training of their faculty and staff, development of curriculum for MS CS program and to provide design consultancy on newly established Faraba campus.
Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS) at the University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore conducts research & development activities in different domains of IT such as software systems, embedded systems, wireless & networking technologies, information security, and industrial automation. It was envisioned as an institute for advanced and high-quality applied research working in collaboration with industries & other academic institutions on national and international levels to bring about the IT revolution in Pakistan and help build a knowledge-driven economy.
Whereas the University of the Gambia promotes equitable and sustainable socio-economic development of communities through relevant high-quality gender-sensitive teaching, research, and outreach programs. It is developing its information and communication technologies, and infrastructure as a driving force for the education of more people more rapidly and for the improvement of efficiency and academic quality to attain the goals of poverty alleviation and national development.
KICS provided its expertise in establishing the Computer Science MS CS program at the University of the Gambia and the design and documentation of the IT infrastructure for its new campus. The project’s main objective was to support the UTG’s needs in enhancing the capacity of its faculty members of the computer science department in the areas of Theory of Computation, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning. KICS also supported UTG in the training sector by providing trainings to the UTG staff of the Information Technology Department in the areas of Cyber Security and ICT Infrastructure Technologies.
Following activities were carried out in accordance with this project:
- The faculty members of KICS developed the customized curriculum including 10 courses for the MS CS program
- UTG faculty members had a 4-week training session at KICS
- IT experts from KICS visited the University of the Gambia for the site surveys and requirements gathering regarding the IT Infrastructure design & documentation for its new campus
- IT staff members of UTG visited KICS for the training program
- The overall coordination and quality assurance of the project was managed by Dr. Waqar Mahmood, Director KICS UET Lahore and Sultan Qaboos Chair.
“We are delighted with what we have seen and the interactions we have had, especially the hospitality. The training in terms of content, material, and instruction, was given satisfactorily. We have learned a lot in all the interesting areas that we have covered from machine learning to cyber security and artificial intelligence.”
Dr. Mbemba Hydara
Dean School of ICT
University of the Gambia
