TAXILA, April 7: Speakers here on Monday urged students to focus on research work and innovation to meet the challenges being faced by the country.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the national IT competition ‘Visio spark 2008’ organised at the Comsats Institute of Information Technology Wah Cantonment campus, they said it was an age when professionalism on the part of skilled workers mattered most to build a knowledge-based economy.

Irfan Afzal Mirza, director general Technical Alternative Energy Board (AEDB), on the occasion said that youth of the country had rich potential which needed to be exploited. He said holding of such events would provide a platform to the IT students to prove their skill and share their experiences and skills with their counterparts.

“The world is changing fast and only those with competitive edge in the global market will survive,” Mr Mirza said. He lauded the management of the Comsats for arranging what he called national mega event to give an opportunity for the talented youth.

Dr Tahir Mukhtar, director of the institute, said exchange of knowledge would help the youth keep abreast of modern trends in the information technology.

He said that as many as 213 participants including 191 male and 22 females from the across the country’s public and private sector universities and IT institutions attended the event and they included Quaid-e Azam University Islamabad, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Science and Technology Swabi, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Rawalpindi, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences Karachi, Army Public College of Management and Sciences Rawalpindi, Ripah International University Islamabad, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Islamiya University Bhawalpur, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Institute of Business and Technology BIZTEK Karachi, Iqra University Islamabad, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro, Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad, Centre of Advance Studies in Engineering (CASE) Islamabad, Balochistan University of Information Technology Quetta, University of Wah and Cosmats Institute Attock, Lahore, Abbottabad and Wah Campuses.