Past Events

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Workshop Brief

Cyber world and physical world are being connected closer through a network of interrelated elements, such as sensors and actuators, robots, and other computing devices. They are inspiring increasing number of beneficial applications in dependable sectors such as aviation, transportation, aerospace, healthcare. In requirements engineer’s viewpoint, the environment, the specification and the requirements are no longer independent, they become three integral concerns of a system. Such systems face an open and continuously changing environment which poses challenges for requirement engineering. One of the challenges is that the trust assumptions about the environment are no longer fixed after deriving the specification and deployment. Environment must be treated as the first-class runtime concern.

To deal with this concern, the abstraction of the environment should model the dynamic interactions. Furthermore, the interactive elements in the environment of the systems are interrelated and these relationships cannot be neglected when deriving the specification of the dynamics especially to satisfy non-functional requirements such as timing, safety, security and privacy, etc.

This tutorial will consist of four parts: (1) the requirements engineering, the principles and the representative approaches; (2) the problem frames approach; (3) the environment modelling based approach; and (4) the environment related non-functionalities. I will deliver this tutorial with a few supporting tools that assist the modelling and verification of the system specification, demonstrated with working examples in sufficient details.

After the tutorial, participants will be able to know the basic principles of requirements engineering as well as the essence of environment modeling. Participants will also be able to work on the environment modelling requirements engineering for their own projects, with some hands-on experience and a good knowledge of some tool support.

Resource Person

Presenter: Zhi Jin, Peking University, China

Prof. Zhi Jin is Professor in Software Engineering at Peking University, China. Her work is concerned with requirements engineering and knowledge-based software engineering. She is co-author of four books and author/co-author over 150 journal/conference publications. She serves for IEEE RE 2016 as General Chair, IEEE Congress of Services as PC co-Chair in Chief, and is frequently serve for ICSE, FSE, etc as for Program Committee Member. She is executive editor-in-chief of Chinese Journal of Software (2013-), Associate Editor of IEEE TSE (2018- ), Associate Editor of IEEE TR (2019- ), and serves in the Editorial Board of JCST (2010- ), REJ (2014- ), and ESEM (2020- ).

For Registration Click here
For Flyer click here

Course Material

Book: Zhi Jin. Environment Modeling-Based Requirements Engineering for Software Intensive Systems ，1st Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2018.

Web site for the tools: http://re4cps.org/home

Coordinated By

Prof Dr M Sadiq Ali Khan , Chair IEEE Educational Activities Karachi Section
msakhan@uok.edu.pk
03002334578

Ms Khazima Muazim
Program Manager
khazima@comstech.org
0092519220681-3

On the Occasion of World Hepatitis Day, COMSTECH has arranged web based seminar to discuss diagnosis and prophylaxis of Hepatitis B & C. Discussion will also be carried out on targets for the elimination of Hepatitis B & C by 2030. The speaker would highlight the discovery of both HBV and HCV and the prospects of global elimination as per WHO’s vision of 2030 elimination target. This webinar is open to health ministry officials, physicians, academicians, scientists, public health officials and general public from all the member OIC states.

Watch recording on YouTube

Poster of webinar:

Abstract of talk:

Speaker’s Profile:

Procedure to join:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87884345949?pwd=MEd2RkNpd2lyY0tmTTJBSXYyZlNVdz09

Meeting ID: 878 8434 5949
Password: 159753

Contact Information: 

Address: COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Fax : 92 51 9211115, 9220265, 9205264
Email: Khazima@comstech.org ; comstech@comstech.org

The healthcare industry is developing rapidly with large volumes of data and increasing challenges in cost and patient outcomes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) with its wide applications in the healthcare systems for e.g. internet of things (IoT) for healthcare, gathering of data for AI applications, Intelligent health platform, intelligent hospital management, diagnostic and predictive systems, health care programming paradigms and software architecture, smart medical devices, and security & privacy for medical health care. The developed countries are already reaping the benefits of AI by integrating it into their healthcare systems. However, in low resource settings, its applications are very limited. In such settings, AI can play a tremendous role in improving the efficiency of healthcare systems.

Realizing the importance of AI in the healthcare systems, COMSTECH has planned a three-day workshop focusing on the subject in November 2020.

Venue:

The workshop will be held at the COMSTECH headquarters in one of the most modern and scenic capital cities of the world, Islamabad. The city was purpose-built as the capital of 6th largest globally and 2nd most populous (in OIC) country Pakistan in the year 1966. Pakistan, according to the Forbes magazine, is a hidden treasure for tourists. with rich cultural diversity, ancient history, diverse landscape, cuisines, modern cities, and locally produced items

Objectives of the Workshop: 

The objective of this International Workshop on “Artificial Intelligence in Health Care” is to bring together the researchers, industrials partners, and practitioners interested in the specification, design, and development of AI to cultivate smart healthcare systems that will improve personal healthcare in a better way.

Key Contents:

The workshop will cover the following topics:

1. Intelligent Hospital Management
2. Health Software Architecture, Framework, Design & Engineering
3. Internet of things for healthcare
4. Intelligent technologies for healthcare (smart homes, cloud-based, etc.)
5. Programming paradigms and tools for health applications
6. Automated Diagnosis and Prediction
7. Data discovery

Workshop Organizing Committee:

Patron: 

Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman (FRS., N.I., H.I., S.I., T.I.)
Chairman Prime Minister Task Force on Information Technology

Chair: 

Prof. Dr. Iqbal Chaudhary (H.I., S.I., T.I.)
Coordinator General COMSTECH/Director ICCBS/ Distinguished National Professor

Co-Chair: 

Prof. Dr. Shoab A. Khan
FOUNDER CARE, Islamabad

Technical Focal Person: 

Dr. Shafaat A. Bazaz
Vice Chancellor, Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad

Resource Persons:

1. Professor Ashiq Anjum
Professor of the distributed systems,
University of Leicester, UK
Profile of the speaker is available here

2. Prof Amir Hussain
Edinburgh Napier University,
Scotland, UK
Founding Head of the Data Science and Cyber Analytics (DSCA) Research Group
Founding Head of the Cognitive Big Data and Cybersecurity (CogBiD) Research Lab
Profile of the speaker is available here

3. Dr. Atif Mashkoor
Senior Researcher,
LIT Secure and Correct Systems LAB
Institute for Software Systems Engineering,
Johannes Kepler University,
Linz, Austria
Profile of the speaker is available here

4. Dr. Usman Akram
Associate Head of Department,
College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering,
National University of Sciences and Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan.

5. Dr. Ahmad Raza Shahid
Assistant Professor
COMSATS University,
Islamabad, Pakistan

6. Dr. Muhammad Salman Khan
Assistant Professor,
University of Engineering and Technology,
Peshawar, Pakistan

7. Dr. Sadia Shakeel
Assistant Professor,
Institute of Space Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan

8. Mr. Khurram Ilyas
Director Techlogix
Profile of the speaker is available here

9. Mr. Muhammad Usama
Senior Data Scientist,
MTBC

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals, students, researchers, young entrepreneurs and policymakers from the OIC countries are encouraged to apply.

Travel & Local Hospitality:

COMSTECH will arrange complete local hospitality, internal transportation, gala dinner and sightseeing visits for all registered participants. Travel support will be provided to the speakers/resource persons only. Participants are expected to get their travel funding from their parent organizations/country of origin.

Registration Process:

Step 1: Fill online from Here

Step 2: Read instructions in the application form carefully and submit a properly filled form along with your CV. Foreign participants must submit a scanned copy of the first three pages of their passport along with the application form.

Step 3: Selected candidates will be notified through email; hence, applicants are required to check their emails regularly.

The workshop Comprises of the four following major activities

1. Poster Presentations
2. Technical Talks (Plenary  Sessions)
3. Training Program (Python etc.)
4. Exhibition of Products/Services in AI for Health

Participations in above three categories are invited to show case your contribution in the above mentioned or relevant fields of Research and Development. The workshop would be a good forum to get your research appreciated

1. Poster Presentations

To participate in poster presentation activity or to showcase your research work and projects, please email your four page draft at muhammad.saleem@case.edu.pk according to the guidelines for poster presentations and poster templates. The best three posters will be awarded after the judgment procedure. The last date for the submission of posters is October 25^th 2020.

• Guidelines for Poster Presentation
• Template for Poster Presentation

2. Plenary Session

The event will be open for all participants for technical talks, discussions, presentations etc.

3. Training Program

To participate as trainer or trainee, please email your Expression of Interest and theme of training (as trainer, maximum one page) latest by October 25^th 2020 at adeel@case.edu.pk

4. Exhibition of Products/Services in AI for Health

Young entrepreneurs are encouraged to display their research products/services in field of AI applications for healthcare industry. Please email your Expression of Interest and details of your product/services latest by October 25^th 2020 at haris@comstech.org.

Workshop Coordinators:

Muhammad Haris Akram
Programme Manager, COMSTECH
Tel: +92-51-9220681-3
Fax: +92-51-9205264, +92-51-9220265
Email: haris@comstech.org

Dr. Saman Riaz
Assistant Professor
Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Pakistan
Email: saman.riaz@case.edu.pk

Venue: COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad
January 25-27, 2021
Deadline for Registration: Jan 01, 2021

Note: This workshop is planned to be a hybrid event (Physical and virtual). Candidates are required to give their preference in the form.

The challenges faced by OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) member states in their healthcare systems and lack of diagnostic facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic have given rise to a dire need for awareness in this neglected area. COMSTECH is planning to offer a workshop on the “Fundamental Techniques in Viral Diagnostics” for building the capacity of OIC member states in this field.

The capacity building of health care professionals and promoting development of diagnostic facilities in the member states of the OIC are the main focus of this three-day workshop. For this purpose, there will be a three-day technical workshop followed by sightseeing on the fourth day.

Venue

The workshop will be conducted at COMSTECH headquarters situated in the beautiful city of Islamabad, Pakistan. Islamabad is one of the most modern and scenic capital cities in the world. Islamabad was purpose-built in 1966 as the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is globally the 5th largest and amongst OIC member states 2nd most populous country. Pakistan, according to Forbes magazine, is a hidden treasure for tourists with rich cultural diversity, ancient history, diverse landscape, cuisines, modern cities, and locally produced items. Zolpidem shortens the time of falling asleep, reduces the number of night awakenings, increases the overall duration of sleep, and improves its quality. Also, it prolongs stage II sleep and deep sleep stages (III and IV). The drug does not cause drowsiness during the day.

Objectives of the Workshop:

The objective of this International Workshop on ” Fundamental Techniques in Viral Diseases Diagnostics ” is to provide a platform for the researchers, health care professionals and related personnel to share their views, experiences and research methodologies. This workshop aims to provide a common forum for capacity building measures against the present and future viral pandemics in the Islamic World.

Key Contents:

The workshop will cover the following topics:

1. Viral diseases, their origin, history and transmission
2. Novel diagnosis and detection strategies for viral infections
3. Development of vaccination and application of existing drugs for treatment and prevention.
4. Development of novel therapeutic agents against viral diseases
5. State of the art diagnostic laboratory setup
6. Preventive measures against the spread of viral diseases in health care professionals

Workshop Organizing Committee: 

Patron:
Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman (FRS., N.I., H.I., S.I., T.I.)
Chairman Prime Minister Task Force on Information Technology

Chair:
Prof. Dr. Iqbal Chaudhary (H.I., S.I., T.I.)
Coordinator General COMSTECH/Director ICCBS/ Distinguished National Professor

Coordinators:

Khazima Muazim
Programme Manager COMSTECH

Dr. Sumbla Sheikh,
Institute of Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hosptial Tuebingen, Germany

Resource Persons: 

Prof. Anders Vahlne
Professor Emeritus, H5 Department of Laboratory Medicine,
Klin Microbiologi,
Karolinska Institutet
Sweden

Speakers

Prof. Anders Vahlne
Professor Emeritus, H5 Department of Laboratory Medicine,
Klin Microbiologi,
Karolinska Institutet
Sweden

Prof. Dr. Bertram Flehmig
Faculty of Medicine
University of Tübingen,
Germany

Prof. Dr. Thomas Iftner
Director
Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases
University Hospital Tubingen 
Germany

Prof. Dr. Hongping Wei  

Professor
Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Research fields: Pathogenic microorganism detection and new antibacterial molecules
Email: hpwei@wh.iov.cn

Prof. Dr. Di Liu  

Professor
Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Science Research Field: Pathogen Genomes and Evolution
Email: liud@wh.iov.cn

Dr. Jiqin Wu   

Assistant Professor
Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Science
Research Field: RNA virus polymerase structure and catalytic mechanism
Email: wujiqin@wh.iov.cn

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals, students, researchers and policy makers from the OIC countries are encouraged to apply.

Registration Fee:

There is no registration fee for participation limited to 35.  

Travel & Local Hospitality:

COMSTECH will arrange complete local hospitality, internal transportation, and sightseeing visits for all registered participants. Travel support will be provided to the speakers only. Participants are expected to get their ticket funding from their parent organizations.

Registration Process:

Step 1: Fill the online application form.

Click Here to fill online form for Physical Participation.

Click Here to fill online form for Virtual Participation.

Deadline for Registration: Jan 01, 2021

Step 2: Read instructions in the application form carefully and submit a properly filled form.

Step 3: Selected candidates will be notified through email; hence, applicants are required to check their emails regularly.

Join Zoom Meeting
Topic: International Workshop on Fundamental Techniques in Viral Diseases Diagnostics
Time: Jan 25, 2021 09:00 AM Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89904295654?pwd=UmRKRThPdVRZd0VlK2pJS3FCMFBoQT09
Meeting ID: 899 0429 5654
Passcode: 298035

Topic: International Workshop on Fundamental Techniques in Viral Diseases Diagnostics
Time: Jan 26, 2021 09:00 AM Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83733413371?pwd=bnFRdkNqK243TjZ6R1RNN2t4RWh3QT09
Meeting ID: 837 3341 3371
Passcode: 057024

Topic: International Workshop on Fundamental Techniques in Viral Diseases Diagnostics
Time: Jan 27, 2021 09:00 AM Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88637520129?pwd=a1ZiU2RPdFozRURpUFhGZS9QRE5HUT09
Meeting ID: 886 3752 0129
Passcode: 268767

Workshop Coordinators:

Khazima Muazim
Programme Manager, COMSTECH
Tel: +92-51-9220681-3
Fax: +92-51-9205264, +92-51-9220265
Email: khazima@comstech.org

Dr. Sumbla Sheikh
Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases
University Hospital Tubingen, Germany
Tel: +49-7071- 29-72899
Cell: 0049-176-80550026
Fax: +92-7071-29-4507
Email: sumbla.sheikh@med.uni-tuebingen.de

Click here for Poster

Coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) aka Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus i.e. severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, causing illness in humans and circulate among animals such as bats. The disease spreads primarily from person to person through small droplets, which are expelled when a person with Covid-19 coughs, sneezes, or speaks. 

The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Robust response and scientific efforts are underway to curb this menace. On forefront is the development of vaccine. World Health Organization (WHO) has 76 vaccine candidates against Covid-19 so far among which only 5 are under clinical evaluation. These 5 may have to prove their worth through rigorous follow up and testing.

COMSTECH has arranged web based seminar to discuss Covid-19 epidemiology and its ramification for wider public health and health sciences particularly for the OIC member states. Prof. Dr. Saad B. Omer is invited for this seminar.  In this talk, Prof. Omer will delve into insights of Covid- 19 epidemiology globally. He will discuss prospects, rigors and future predicaments for the Covid- 19 vaccine production.

Speaker’s Profile:

Prof. Dr. Saad B. Omer is the founding Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the World Famous Yale University, Schools of Medicine and Public Health, USA.  He has conducted studies in the United States, Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and other OIC states. Dr Omer’s research portfolio includes clinical trials to estimate efficacy and safety of maternal and/or infant influenza, pertussis, polio, measles and pneumococcal vaccines and trials to evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He has published over 280 papers in peer reviewed journals and has mentored over 100 junior faculty, clinical, and research post-doctoral fellows and PhD and other graduate students. Prof. Omer’s insight about pandemics and their impact is unique and praise worthy.

https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/saad_omer/

Procedure to join:

Step 1: Download software zoom for this web based seminar (https://zoom.us/)

Step 2: Send your request to join this seminar at khazima@comstech.org. Pl. note you need to send your Name, Email address, Affiliation, Profession, level of education in this email.  

Contact Information: 

Address: COMSTECH Secretariat, 33-Constitution Avenue, G-5/2, Islamabad 
Phone No. : 92 51 9220681-3
Fax : 92 51 9211115, 9220265, 9205264
Email: khazima@comstech.org ; comstech@comstech.org

June 29, 2020: H.E. Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General COMSTECH met with Mr. Muhammad Naeem, Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission on Monday, 29th June, 2020 in his office. The Leadership of both organizations have deliberated on several collaborative projects for building capacity of OIC Member States in Science and Technology.

This workshop was organized by the Islamic Organization on Food Security (IOFS) and hosted by Government of the United Arab Emirates (Food Security Council) with the partnership of OIC General Secretariat, COMSTECH, IsDB, ICBA, ICARDA and FAO.

Dubai Decleration

COMSTECH, in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) held a consultation Workshop for Development of a multi-national Project proposal on “Promotion of Plant Genetic Resources: Use, Varietal Development and Integration in the Seed System” on 11th of April, 2019 at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative office, NARC in Islamabad.

Representatives from governments from five OIC Member countries, namely Pakistan, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Azerbaijan participated in the workshop. The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Country Representative of FAO, the Chairman PARC, the DG NARC and Adviser COMSTECH. One of the outcomes of the meeting was the offer from Pakistan to provide access to OIC countries to store up to 5000 germplasm at its own gene bank, as safety duplicates.

This activity is an expression of COMSTECH efforts to address food security, farm productivity and preservation of plant biodiversity as key priorities under OIC STI agenda 2026, through cooperation between Member States and development of human and technical capacity. Currently few of the OIC member states have the adequate facilities and manpower to address the vital concern of preserving the germ plasm and seed varieties of their exiting crop varieties and for exchanging and integrating new crop varieties into their own agricultural systems. This activity was held to find practical ways to address these needs led by the OIC countries that are more advanced in this domain. This effort was initiated during a meeting organized by COMSTECH in March 2018 where an OIC Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources was formed. After thorough deliberations and consultations between members of this group, led by PARC, a Concept Note for a project proposal has been developed in consultation with the FAO that outlines the goals, activities and required resources for these purposes.

In this expert level meeting presentations were made on the status of plan genetic resources’ preservation, development, and integration in the seed system of each participating country. The technical, human resource and legislative needs for these purposes were identified. In the 2nd session of the workshop the Concept Note for the Project prepared by FAO and PARC was shared with the participants. The main objective of the proposed project is to enhance technical capacity and performance of concerned institutions of both the public and private sectors to broaden their collaboration in plant genetic resource use and crop variety development facilitated by rapid flow of newly developed crop varieties in the seed system, to enhance farm productivity and ensuring food and nutritional security. Consensus was established on the basics of the proposed project and technical details such as costing, modes and sources of funding, and timelines were discussed in detail. The project proposal would be developed by the PARC in consultation with FAO and COMSTECH. Azerbaijan offered to host the next meeting of the Working Group later this year.

COMSTECH and Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) UKM, Malaysia jointly organized a 3-day workshop, from 29 to 31 July 2019 to explore the issues and to share experiences and knowledge on renewable energy between energy professionals and academics of OIC countries.

The workshop gathered energy scientists, experts and young scholars from several OIC Member States. The workshop continued for 3 days and experts gave insights into new technological advancements, R&D and commercialization of renewable energy technologies.

The workshop was organized for capacity building in the light of the core mandate of COMSTECH to strengthen cooperation among OIC Member States in science and technology (S&T) and to enhance their capabilities through training in emerging areas.

The resource persons talked about following topics:

• Solar PV Technologies & Development
• Solar Thermal Technologies & Development
• Biomass Energy – Frontier Technologies
• Smart & Micro Grids
• Pico, Micro Hydro Power Plants
• Low Energy Architecture and Thermal Comfort
• Renewable Energy Installations, Policies, Pricing & Employability: An OIC Perspective
• Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Systems
• Wind Energy Technologies
• Marine Power Generation
• The Future of Energy Storage Systems
• Environmental & Economic Impacts of Solar PV Systems

On the final day, all the participants were given hands on training on HOMER Software. The HOMER Pro software is the global standard for optimizing micro-grid design, from village power and island utilities to grid-connected systems. It uses three powerful tools in one software, so that engineering and economics work side by side. The session was very interactive and all the participants learned the basics of using all the tools and dynamics of the software.

Resource persons and participants from Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan, contributed to the workshop and shared their research and practices in the field of Renewable Energy (RE) technologies. A total of 38 participants from OIC Member Countries participated in the workshop other than Malaysia.

Students and researchers from different universities of Malaysia also presented their posters to showcase the advanced research being carried out in the field of renewable energy technologies. Their posters mainly focused on energy storage, fuel cells, integrated energy modelling, green buildings, etc.

On the concluding day, all the participants were taken to the SERI labs to showcase the research being carried out at their institute. SERI is already having many collaborative research projects with other energy institutes in OIC Member States.

Summarizing, the workshop explored the advanced research in renewable technologies, issues of cost and sustainability of various energy options, and challenges in the adoption of new technologies. The workshop focused on the analysis of different RE technologies, institutional policy and frameworks, and levelized costs of various RE technologies. The main suggestions to emerge from the workshop were:

• to develop strategies for integration of RE Technologies
• to have a sustainable energy mix
• to design support policies that promote the integration of green technologies
• to facilitate researchers from Member States for collaborations and funding opportunities
• to facilitate Member States in enhancing their institutional capacity building
• to develop a greener and sustainable transition to combat climate change

As a sideline activity, a brainstorming session on establishment of OIC Energy Working Group was conducted. Suggestions were invited from different stakeholders so as to formally establish the OIC Energy working group, in the third phase of this series of Energy workshops being organized by COMSTECH

As had been announced, the IsDB Transformers Roadshow for Pakistan was held on 4^th May 2019 at the COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.

It was a full day event organized jointly by the IsDB and COMSTECH for highlighting and encouraging innovative ideas of young Pakistanis. The event was participated in by the IsDB team led by its President H.E. Dr. Bandar M. H. Hajjar and also included the Chief Scientific Advisor to the President IsDB Dr. Hayat S. Sindi. The Roadshow climaxed a month of preparatory stages where applicants from Pakistan submitted their innovative ideas for addressing various problems faced by Pakistani society in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the UN.

From the 232 received applications 20 projects were shortlisted by COMSTECH and the respective teams were invited to the Roadshow where they made their presentations to an international Jury comprising:

The main events of the day included mentoring sessions for the contestants, conducted by the members of the international Jury. The themes of these mentoring session were;

• Attracting impact investment
• Pitching to the business
• Scaling up/ Commercialization
• Marketing and Communication

After an intense competition, the Jury announced the following 4 winners:

The closing session of the event was graced by Dr. Zafar Mirza, Minister of State, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, the President IsDB, and the Coordinator General COMSTECH Dr. Tariq Banuri. The winners were awarded cash prizes of US$3000 each and support from IsDB to participate in the Annual Roadshow event to be held in Senegal later this year.  The speakers at the closing session lauded the exciting initiative of the IsDB in promoting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the Pakistani youth. The IsDB President and the Chief Guest highly appreciated the efforts of COMSTECH in organizing this event, and in general, in developing various S&T initiatives for the OIC member states.

The function was followed by a well-attended press conference addressed by the President IsDB, the Minister of State for Health and the CG COMSTECH. The IsDB President highlighted the efforts of IsDB in promoting development projects in Pakistan. The CG of COMSTECH and President of IsDB expressed the resolve to continue to work together on various S&T initiatives for the betterment of the OIC countries.