ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Adviser to the prime minister on science and technology Dr Attaur Rehman on Wednesday asked the S&T ministry to come up with a national science and technology policy and action plan.

The policy should provide guidelines for the development of industrial policy, preparation of education and research programmes to implement these policies and contain steps for increased interaction between universities, research institutions and industry.

The direction to this effect came during a meeting presided over by Prof Dr Attaur Rehman, who is also the minister in charge of science and technology ministry.

The officers of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) also attended the meeting during which Carlas Chanduvi-Suarev, the Unido representative in Pakistan, made a presentation about ‘technology foresight’.

The meeting decided that science and technology ministry, in collaboration with Unido, would prepare the basic draft of the national policy within four weeks which would be discussed in an inter-ministerial meeting to build a consensus on the policy.

Seminars would also be arranged in a number of cities to get input from stakeholders. The consensus document will be presented to the prime minister.

Dr Ata said the policy should focus on technology foresight in consensus with other relevant ministries and stakeholders in the private sector and in very close coordination of Unido.

Giving guidelines about the policy, Prof Attaur Rahman said it should be a comprehensive document covering all aspects of technology development for optimum benefit of the country. He said industrialization was the key to development.

As technology development will be the key agent of change the policy should contain concrete and substantive technology foresight activities.

“This new technology foresight should visualize, technology, industry, economy and society in the long run.

“It should identify and prioritize technologies that can generate economic and social benefits,” he said.

The policy should also contain diffusion of new strategic technologies from research to industrial sector, Dr Ata said.

Meanwhile, Carlos Chanduvi-Suarev, in his presentation, about ‘Technology Foresight’, elaborated the experiences of different countries and made a comparison of various available models.