The government does not seem to be doing a great job of patronising innovation and invention. To understand why research and development has primarily been the domain of the public sector and whether there are any hindrances to private sector involvement in the realm of R&D, Dawn spoke to renowned educationist Dr AH Nayyar.

Q: Is research and development necessarily the domain of the state or should the responsibility be taken up by the private sector as well?

A: The private sector always wants to get into research for their own purposes, i.e. they want to advance their own products and develop new technologies that will help them make more money. Around the world, most large private industrial enterprises have their own research cells. In Pakistan, however, industry is not very advanced and there are very few companies that operate their own R&D departments.

At the academic level also, there is so much that can be done. But most Pakistani universities and research institutions prefer to acquire turn-key projects from abroad and replicate them at minimal cost. Very few people and institutions in Pakistan have the patience or the capacity to carry out research projects from scratch. Our industrialists aren’t interested in innovation either. They simply acquire technologies from abroad, because they have no faith in our local capacity.

Q: What is stopping our research institutions and our industry from developing synergies?

A: Let me give you an example. The PCSIR was formed by the government primarily to facilitate industry. The idea was that they would conduct research that would be beneficial to the industrial complex and a relationship would form between the two. However, even though PCSIR has done some impressive work, there is just no demand for it. This is also why standards at such institutions are slipping.

Pakistan also used to have a booming steel and metals industry. But no industrialist, no matter how big, has ever thought of investing in metallurgical research. It was only when public universities developed metallurgical engineering departments that meaningful work was done in this sector.

Q: What is it that stops institutions such as the National Institute of Electronics (NIE) from doing good work?

A: I have been familiar with the NIE since the 1970s, but it was never at the forefront of discovery in Pakistan and its contribution to research has never been predictable. It was created to make products that can be developed with minimal investment but can fetch very high prices in the market. However, because it did not concentrate on upcoming sectors such as communication technologies, it was sidelined and could not realise its full potential.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2015

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