Pakistan Innovation Foundation’s basic concept and idea was first presented at the Conference on Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CCIE) 2011 organised by MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan alongside the MITEFP Business Acceleration Programme. PIF was very well received. (Video Coming Soon).
Today (January 29, 2013) is Dr. Abdus Salam’s eighty-seventh birth anniversary. Dr. Abdus Salam was a scientist par excellence having contributed tremendously to the scientific enterprise and achieved recognition – including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. His contributions – electro-weak force, Pati-Salam Model, supersymmetry, discovery of new particles and particle properties, etc. – form the basis Grand Unification and the Standard Model in particle physics today.
That “Salam was a genius and for genius to end up winning Nobel Prize is no big surprise.” writes Nidhal Guessoum, a professor of physics and astronomy and the author of Islam’s Quantum Question. But Salam was much more than just a physicist. He was also perhaps one of the most influential scientists of his times whose influence went beyond the realm of physics to affect the society at large. In this he was, perhaps, the most shining star – second only to the Great Master, Albert Einstein, himself – in the galaxy of scientists who came and went in one of the most productive centuries of modern science. It would probably not be grossly incorrect to say that as far as influence beyond the world of science is concerned, Salam was to the developing world what Einstein was to the developed world.
Salam’s crowing achievement, however, was the setting up of International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, in 1964. This Centre, which Salam envisioned as the first department of a broader UN University provided a ‘meeting place for leading theoreticians from the East and the West” but also, more importantly, a place where scientists from developing countries could spend some time working with other colleagues and leading scientists of the time to reduce their frustration at lack of support back home thus stemming the brain drain from the developing world.
Over the years, ICTP has hosted over 100,000 scientists from the developing world – more than 6000 visitors from 122 countries in 2005 alone – and has contributed tremendously towards reducing the intellectual isolation of scientists and arresting the brain drain towards the West. While at ICTP, he also laid the foundation of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) to support scientists in the developing world. He was also instrumental in proposing the Islamic Science Foundation that never really saw the light of the day.
Salam has had a towering influence on the development of science – which he often referred to as a ‘common heritage of mankind’ – in the developing world.
Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited (TSML) is Pakistan’s first private-sector integrated steel manufacturing project designed to use the world’s most advanced DRI (Direct Reduction of Iron) technology based on the MIDREX process, owned by Kobe Steel of Japan. Spread over 220 acres, and established through the foreign direct investment of Al Tuwairqi Holding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
TSML plans to produce 1.28 million tonnes of high quality steel to be consumed locally. TSMLE – the engineering and fabrication subsidiary – hopes to become owners and designers rather than mere users of the MIDREX process through design and experimentation. In addition, with the fabrication of 50-70% structures of the Karachi facility in Pakistan and the 110 meter high tower – the tallest in Bin Qasim – TSMLE also hopes to become the fabricator of plants and structures not only in steel-making but in other heavy industry sectors.
The innovative first for TSMLE is not just the first deployment of the DRI process but also performing material balancing of the reduction furnace and CFD modeling (planned) as well as balancing and simulation of the reformer and thermodynamic modeling (planned). With this, TSMLE would have achieved complete knowledge of designing and implementing process resulting in considerable design flexibility in operating the TSML plant in Karachi.
TSML’s process will produce steel at 30% less energy intensity than Pakistan Steel and TSMLE’s local fabrication expertise resulted in savings of $150million in foreign exchange. TSML’s production will alleviate the demand and supply gap (8.4 million tonnes vs. 4.9 million tonnes) and bring Pakistan’s steel usage (37 kg/capita) at par with the region (208 kg/capita) and the world (182 kg/capita).
TSMLE also seeks to create its own R&D facility for the broader Al-Twairiqi Group of Saudi Arabia with several large facilities and become a regional player in Engineering Design and Fabrication. It is a great example of local innovation, indigenous development, and foreign collaboration in Pakistan.
After a haitus of 2 years, TSML was inaugurated yesterday (12/1/13)
Source: Several interviews in 2010, media reports.
Scientists at National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) in Faisalabad, Pakistan have developed a patented a novel approach to creating insect resistent Cotton. They have done this by decoding the DNA structure of the venom of Australian Funnel Web Spider and expressing its Hvla Toxin (Hvt) gene into a new transgenic Cotton variety that is resistent to both American and Army Ballworms. The work by the NIBGE Team comprising Sher Afzal Khan, Yusuf Zafar, Rob W. Briddon, Kauser Abdulla Malik, and Zahid Mukhtar has received worldwide attention and acclaim and a number of papers have been published detailing the results (e.g. here)
NIBGE patented the Hvt Cotton in 2004 and is pursuing biosafety trials to commercialise. Commercialising this might enable Pakistan to save precious royalty payments to foreign companies that own patents on rival transgenic cotton varieties such as Bt Cotton. NIBGE also wants to keep this Hvt Cotton royalty free for maximum adoption and economic impact.
One of the scientists – Dr. Yusuf Zafar – was selected last year as the Scientist of the Year 2012 by International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC). Another – Kausar Malik – is a Board Member of Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF).
Engro Chemicals Pakistan Ltd is a fine example of daring business model innovation in the face of threats to ones survival. In the mid 1990s, not only was Engro one of the most successful employee buy-back operation in Pakistan, it also executed an innovative technical feat – the first large-scale migration (unassembly, packaging, transporation, re-assembly, and operationalisation) of an industrial plant from developed world to a developing country.
Facing a crossroads in 1991, when its parent Exxon divested from fertisiler business, Engro needed to significantly enhance capacity to remain viable. However, it could not afford to buy new plants. So, Engro’s management led by late Shaukat Mirza came up with an ambitious plan to transport used ammonia and urea plants from Pascagoula, MS and Billingham, UK to Dhairki, Pakistan. Engro’s own resources were used instead of using expensive foreign EPC contractors.
A super cargo of over 13,000 tons of equipment, piping, and structure were moved from two continents through Karachi to Dhairki. Over 7.7 million manhours later, the plants were successfully commissioned in record time at half the cost of a new plant ($130million instead of $260 million) delivering significant strategic advantages to Engro.
In doing so, Engro also revolutionised the global chemical industry by reducing the barriers to entry for poorer developing nations like China. The ‘Engro Model’ has been replicated many times since and recognised by American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE). Engro Corporation today is a diversified conglomerate of businesses in chemicals, power, food, and automation.
One of the figures in Engro’s future transformation – Asad Umar -is on the Advisory Board of Pakistan Innovation Foundation. [Sources: Several documents, interviews, etc.]
PIF Board Member and CEO of Gillette Pakistan, Mr. Saad Amanullah Khan, becomes one of the founders of the National Entreprenuership Working Group (NEWG) based out of Karachi. NEWG is a non-profit entity supported by US Consulate in Karachi as an umbrella organisation of entrepreneurship and innovation support entities in Pakistan.
The National Entrepreneurship Working Group aims to create a platform at the national level to bring about a change in the economic development of Pakistan. This is to be done by promoting entrepreneurship and innovation through bringing together all the stakeholders under one platform to address issue confronting entrepreneurs and to work towards creating an enabling environment that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation.
Among the other founding member are Mrs. Azra Maqsood of Injaz Pakistan, Dr. Zafar Siddiqui of CED at IBA (Karachi), Mr. Naveed Siraj of Intel (Pakistan), Mr. Azhar Rizvi of MIT Enterprise Forum (Pakistan), Mr. Kashif Khan of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), and Mr. Rizwan Razvi of Young Moajid.
Mr. Rizwan Razvi will act at the Convenor of the Group that will soon embark upon its efforts to bring various players on the Pakistani Entrepreneurship-Innovation scene to the table.
Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF) is pleased to report that Dr. Athar Osama, Founder and Chief Executive of Pakistan Innovation Foundation has been honoured by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Young Global Leader (YGL).
The World Economic Forum (WEF) based in Davos, Switzerland announced the Young Global Leaders (YGL) Class of 2013 yesterday. This honour is bestowed by the World Economic Forum each year to recognize the most distinguished leaders under the age of 40, nominated from around the world.These individuals have been recognized for their professional achievements and commitment to society.
The 200 YGLs honoured yesterday come from 70 countries and all sectors of society (arts and culture, academia, business, civil society, media, politics and social entrepreneurship). The honourees come from East Asia (46), Europe (49), Latin America (16), the Middle East and North Africa (12), North America (40), South Asia (18), and sub-Saharan Africa (19).
Young Global Leaders are a community of selected, tested and proven leaders who are making change through collective action; they’re coming from really diverse backgrounds united by a shared purpose to realise a better future. The YGL community helps these young leaders turn their personal success to global significance by putting their energy into ideas that lead to impactful change.
“The Forum of Young Global Leaders provides a unique effort to engage the younger generation into the management of global affairs, working together and being integrated into the larger Forum community. The Young Global Leaders have an exceptional opportunity to improve the state of the world,” Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
“I am excited, but at the same time humbled, to receive this honour and looking forward to the possibilities it creates for me, the institutions I belong to, and my vision of creating a scientifically developed and innovative Pakistan,” says Dr. Osama. “I’ve long believed in the power of networks in realising ones potentials and YGLs is one of the most powerful networks there is,” he adds.
Dr. Osama’s brainchild, the Pakistan Innovation Foundation, seeks to promote science and innovation within private sector and the broader society in Pakistan. It seeks to do this through a ‘core’ program designed to create awareness within the society, reward and recognise innovation and innovators, and carry out a deeply passionate but evidence-based agenda of research and advocacy.
PIF has recently announced its launch initiative, The National Innovation Grand Challenge (NIGC), that will engage talented Pakistanis – students, entrepreneurs, professionals, and citizen innovators – in an ‘Open Innovation’ Challenge to help solve Pakistan’s development challenges and enhance the country’s competitiveness. The NIGC provides a great opportunity for creative and innovative Pakistanis to exercise their innate talents and win prizes. A number of corporate sector entities have lined up to fund these prizes creating a wonderful opportunity for university – industry collaborations. PIF will soon embark upon a roadshow through 10-15 largest universities in Pakistan to introduce the idea to potential innovators.
This year’s class includes 4 Pakistanis that include:
– Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (Pakistan-Canada), the Emmy and Oscar award-winning Pakistani-Canadian journalist and documentary film-maker.
– Athar Osama (Pakistan), Chief Executive of Technomics International Ltd. – a public policy consulting firm, an adjunct faculty member at Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), and a passionate believer and advocate in the power of science and innovation to change the course of his country and is the founder of Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF) and Muslim-Science.Com,
– Shehrbano Taseer (Pakistan), the daughter of slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and an up and coming journalist
who works for NewsWeek – Pakistan, and
– Mariam Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan), the daughter of former Prime Minister and PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif
For those of us, engineer-innovator types, who have lived long enough to see the eighties and early-nineties, there was one Pakistani role model Innovator-Entrepreneur personified. That was Irivine-based NED Grad Safi Qureshey who founded AST Reseasrch Inc. in 1980 along with two immigrant entrepeneurs Albert V. Wong and Thomas C. K. Yeun.
Started with $12,000 in cash and $218,000 in office equipment in Yeun’s garage, AST started by producing add-on expansion chips for established computers with its first product being a memory expansion chip for IBM’s new personal computer launched in 1981. From there on, AST grew to $12 million in 1983, $138 million in 1985, and $412 million in 1988.
In 1986, AST Research started its own line of computers and brought in considerable new marketing and technology innovation. For instance, AST was the first company to offer “upgradable” computers that used inexpensive modular components which addressed concerns that PCs would always become obsolete. Such ideas showed AST to be more a pioneer than just a mere clone maker. In 1989, AST became first IBM-compatible computer manufacturer (a week behind IBM itself) and offered an ‘upgraded’ PC based on Intel 486 and later Pentium Chip. In just 13 years, AST had broken into the ranks of the top 10 companies in terms of units shipped with third-fastest sales growth in 1993.
It was then that Vice President Al Gore who championed reinventing of the US Federal bureaucracy described AST Research as a role model for re-inventing stating: “I can’t tell you how impressed I am with this company.” Safi Qureshey of AST Research survived a break-up of its founders and served as CEO of AST Computers until it was acquired by Samsung in the later years. Safi Qureshey remained an active entrepenreur-investor having founded Quartics, Enabling Technologies, and a number of other ventures after AST. However, none of these shine as brightly as AST Research that was for a time a pure inspiration for Pakistani engineers-innovators around the world.
Pakistan Innovation Founder, Dr. Athar Osama, and Board Member, Saad Amanullah Khan, were featured speakers at the 13th Convention of the Management Association of Pakistan meeting on December 18th, 2012.
Both spoke on a panel titled “Indigenous Innovation and Entrepeneurship” alongside Dr. Shahid Javed Burki, former Finance Minister of Pakistan and Mr. Mohammed Yunus of Bayt.com.
Dr. Osama
introduced the audience to Pakistan Innovation Foundation and the National Innovation Grand Challenge. He urged the Corporate Leaders to help create innovative role models and to ‘think big’ and dream of conquering world markets. Dr. Osama also demonstrated the National Innovation Grand Challenge patterened after the X-Prize.
Mr. Saad Amanullah Khan further reiterated the message and urged the corporate community in Pakistan to become more innovative and leverage the power of innovation to help solve Pakistan’s development challenges and enhance competitiveness in the international markets.
Innovation was one of the primary focus areas of the 13th MAP Convention and PIF’s message rang true with several senior corporate and management leaders.
Pictures of the MAP Event may be accessed through PIF’s Facebook Page (here).
By: Dr. Athar Osama
Published in SciDev.Net on 15 November 2012
Despite some success in science, Pakistan underachieves because it lacks structures for commercial innovation, says Athar Osama.
Three years ago, with colleagues from Lahore University of Management Sciences, I set out to understand Pakistan’s science and innovation landscape, as part of a yet-unpublished study of 15 member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Why is it that a country that is a member of an elite club of the world’s nuclear powers and one of few to have cruise missile technology is unable to solve the basic problems of education, hunger, disease and shelter for tens of millions of people?
In recent years, the country has been through energy shortages that have crippled industry and electricity blackouts that last as long as 18 hours a day and threaten to send the country back to the Stone Age. Water scarcity is taking its toll on agriculture and there is an increasing frequency of adverse climatic events such as floods.
On what became a fascinating journey of discovery, I found a society ripe with tremendous talent, energy and resilience that is often lost for lack of support from a government that performs, at best, at a mediocre level. Pakistan is a country that defines itself as an agricultural economy yet has tolerated decades of declining research and development (R&D) spending on agriculture.
A 2005 report on the state of the country’s National Agricultural Research System noted, for example, that the development budget of the Pakistan Agricultural Resource Council (PARC) declined in real terms from PKR 29.3 million (about US$300,000) in 1980–1 to PKR 5.2 million (about US$54,000) in 2000–1.
But from the green revolution in the 1960s, to the nuclear programme in the 1980s, and the missile programme in the 1990s, it is evident that whenever scientists and engineers have been given a clear mandate and resources they have delivered.
A commercial disconnect
Pakistan is clearly a country that has considerable scientific capability and yet the promise remains unfulfilled. Why, for example, does the agricultural system perform below its potential? The yields on research farms of major food crops such as wheat and sugarcane are as much as twice that of the national average.
But few farmers get quality seed; there are lapses in extension services and farmer education; water shortages prevail; and price cartels and inconsistent policies play havoc with farmers’ incentives.
So while the science is often available, the failing, more often than not, is in implementation and governance. This is not unique to Pakistan — other developing countries in the Islamic world are facing the same obstacles.
Part of the answer lies in structural weaknesses that pervade the science and innovation system.
Science funding in Pakistan is just over US$1 billion, accounting for just under 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007–8. This has risen and fallen over the years, but primarily goes towards public sector basic and applied research, with little spent by the private sector.
There is little value to show. This is mainly because, almost by design, the public sector — bodies such as the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PSCIR) and more than 400 research organisations — are not set up to commercialise research.
There is supply-driven rather than demand-driven allocation of resources — and little impact on society.
Take the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR). Each year about 250,000 Pakistani children under the age of five die from a lack of clean drinking water and waterborne diseases. PCRWR, for many years, has developed what it describes as the world’s ‘cheapest’ water purification filter system. But with a lack of commercial expertise it has failed to use this innovation to make a dent on infant mortality.
Pulling innovation together
Despite this major weakness, Pakistan has much informal innovation that is often not recognised, much less appreciated.
What is needed is a demand-driven approach that enables problems to drive innovation, establishing a cycle of investment and return. As things stand, the private sector is unlikely to participate in the R&D value chain.
There is also a need to make innovation possible, accessible and relevant to all — to make it democratic. An entity that provides inspiration and support to citizen inventors to engage in innovation to solve development issues could unlock potential.
One such organisation is the Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF) to be launched later this month, which I have founded with colleagues, and which aims to promote innovation in the private sector and society.
This cannot be achieved overnight. PIF is starting small and will build credibility as it goes along. But even before its formal launch, PIF has been able to engage private-sector players in a meaningful and wide-ranging conversation on innovation in Pakistani society.
Pakistan is in a precarious period and faces a sustainability challenge of epic proportions. This could only get worse with a fast-growing population that could reach 300 million in a little more than a generation.
With its back to the wall, Pakistan can only innovate its way out of its current and future challenges.
Athar Osama is a science and innovation policy consultant and advisor. He is CEO of Technomics International, a UK-based technology policy consulting firm, and founder of Muslim-Science.com and the Pakistan Innovation Foundation.