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Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 1 2 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 Produced and Published by: Pakistan Innovation Foundation Authors: Dr Athar Osama, Founder & CEO, Pakistan Innovation Foundation (PIF), and Founding Partner, Technomics International Ltd Dr Syed Zahoor Hassan, Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Dr Kamran Ali Chattha, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore December 2015 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 3 Credits: Cover Page: Commons, Wikimedia (Commons.Wikimedia.org) Artwork and Layout: Designed by Tania Maryam Copyright: © 2015 Pakistan Innovation Foundation Citation: Osama, A. et al. Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015, Pakistan Innovation Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan Produced by: Pakistan Innovation Foundation Select One Plaza, F-11 Markaz, Islamabad, Pakistan Tel: +92 51 8443224 and Email: [email protected] 4 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 Contents 1 Mapping ................................................................................................. 12 2 People ................................................................................................. 44 3 Places ................................................................................................. 57 4 Business ................................................................................................. 67 5 Culture ................................................................................................. 89 6 Sustainability ........................................................................................ 98 7 Collaboration ........................................................................................ 105 8 Prognosis ................................................................................................. 113 References ......................................................................................... 124 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 5 Introduction and Summary Modelled on similar analyses of China, India, South Korea and Brazil1, as well as Malaysia, Jordan, and Egypt, this report provides an accessible and practical snapshot of science, technology and inno- vation (STI) in Pakistan. Science represents the act of discovery and invention and creation of knowl- edge that primarily takes place in universities, as well as public and private research laboratories. This report takes a broad view of science that includes natural and engineering sciences and technology as well as health and social sciences. Innovation is the commercial and social exploitation of the results of scientific research that primarily takes place in industry and through the process of entrepreneur- ship. Innovation can be one of six kinds, namely, science-based innovation, technological innova- tion (e.g. reverse engineering), process or product innovation, new markets, organisational or business model innovation, and social innovation. This report assesses the health of linkages between science and innovation in Pakistan and provides policy rec- ommendations. The primary purpose of this report is three-fold, namely, first, to serve as a snapshot and landscape of science and innovation activities and trends that are happening within Pakistan; second, to critically evaluate broad and narrow policy environment af- fecting science and innovation and make recom- mendations for its improvement; and third, to iden- tify areas of good practice and promise as well as opportunities and gaps that various actors - internal and external - may seek to collaborte with, act upon, or replicate. The story of Pakistan’s science and innovation could be better understood by looking at it in a systematic way as a result of a complex set of factors and influ- encers (internal and external), policy choices driven – in part – by these influences, working and inter-re- lationships of various policy-making and implement- 6 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 ing institutions, among others. It is important to appreciate the various elements that form the overall environment in which the public policy and science technology and innovation (STI) infrastructure interplay to understand the evolution and performance of a country’s science and innovation system. Figure 1: Public Policy environment for Science and Innovation: A Framework for analysis Figure-1 provides a simplified snapshot of these influences. The figure illustrates the im- portance of taking into account seemingly irrelevant factors such as socio-political influ- ences (e.g. prevalent social norms like sources of power and respect, family structure and its dynamics, and culture as well as political alliances, global power plays) as well as state of economic conditions and infrastructure (e.g. health, education, transporta- 2 tion, communications, property rights) in the society. The overall development priorities of the society must inform the public policy regarding STI including the priorities, objec- tives, and resource allocation to scientific, technological, and innovative activities across various sectors. The role of a number of institutions in implementing the policies as well as efforts and aspirations of other institutions and (entrepreneurial) individuals then come into play. The linkages between these factors-influencers are critical (double ar- rows describe primary influences and single arrows describe secondary and tertiary influ- ences) and their quality drives the quality of socio-economic outcomes from the system. The above graphic thus forms a framework through which analysis in this report can be coherently organised. The various chapters neatly fit the various boxes in this figure such as external factors (chapters on mapping, sustainability and collaboration), public policy and government priorities (chapters on mapping and recommendations), infrastructure and Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 7 economic conditions (chapters on places and business), socio-cultural and political factors (chapters on mapping, places, and culture), and institutions and individuals (chapters on mapping, people and business). The Challenge of Governance and Implementation The greatest challenges in Pakistan are probably as much of the scientific variety as they are of governance and implementation. Time and again over the country’s history – whether it is the green revolution of the 1960s and 70s or the nuclear programme of the 1970s and 80s, or the missile programme of the 1990s – Pakistani scientists and engineers have proven Figure: 2: Productivity Gaps for Pakistan’s Major Crops (Credit: Dr. Shaukat Hameed Khan) that given a challenging target and appropriate resources they can deliver against all odds. More often than not, the challenge has been to find a consistent vision, direction, and policy for science (governance) and channel this into benefit for the society (implementation). Take the case of agricultural yields, for instance. A 2005 Expert Committee Report on Agri- culture puts the national average yield for wheat at 2325 kg/ha while the average yield with 3 progressive farming was put at 4625 kg/ha and the research potential yield at 6808 kg/ha. Similar improvements in yields can be achieved for other crops as well. This clearly demon- strates that while science may provide an almost tripling of yield in wheat, lapses in imple- mentation form significant bottlenecks for the realisation of this potential. These lapses are often of a relatively mundane nature – such as inability to provide quality seeds, timely wa- ter, farm inputs and implements, pricing and storage policies, and education and extension to farmers – that could significantly benefit from a better governance and implementation regime. Figure 2 highlights the gaps as well as the opportunities. Only after the implementa- 8 Pakistan Science and Innovation Review 2015 tion gaps (T -T and T -T ) are addressed the scientific potential (T -T and T -T ) be realised 1 0 2 1 4 3 2 4 3 through better application of science and technology. While policy consistency and governance have often been found lacking, individual bril- liance and raw talent has been in ample abundance in Pakistan. It is this determination – to win against all odds – and sheer brilliance and talent of its people that has defined the Pa- kistani nation since its birth in 1947. Pakistani scientists and technologists have often per- formed exceptionally well in more supportive environments abroad and, when given an opportunity, have achieved significant – though isolated – successes at home. It is precisely this talent that puts Pakistan apart as one of the very few Muslim countries – if not the leader of the pack - to have demonstrated an uncanny ability to achieve the impossible in science and engineering. What is needed, though, is a method and a degree of consistency through which the STI infrastructure can effectively and consistently deliver major societal benefits. In many other ways, the story of STI in Pakistan is a typical developing country saga: too many immediate challenges, competing demands on the limited resources, and difficulty in appreciating the need to take a long term perspective, especially the need for investments in STI for socioeconomic development. The external factors identified in Figure 1 above – such as an unfavourable security environment – have especially played a key role in limit- ing what Pakistan could achieve in STI. But whenever