Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies (IIPS) has constituted its advisory board to provide thoughtful leadership and strategic oversight.
The inaugural session of the board was held in Islamabad, attended by people from academia, government and industry. The Iqbal Institute is driving research and policymaking through collaboration between government, academia and the private sector. The overarching vision of the institute extends to the development and promulgation of a comprehensive vision for Pakistan 2030, covering multiple sectors of opportunity for the economic and social growth of the nation.
The IIPS advisory board operates to realize the vision of the institute and is headed by Lt Gen (r) Haroon Aslam in capacity as president. The advisory board consists of seasoned professionals from different fields of life, including Tariq Ikram (Sitara-e-Imtiaz), a former minister for state and chief executive of Trade Development Authority; Dr Asif Naqvi, International Associate Director of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons UK; Rear Admiral (r) Saleem Akhtar, former DG Bahria University Islamabad; Dr Shujat Ali, former federal secretary; Dr Zafar Qadir; chairman of Taleem Foundation; Air Vice Marshal (r) Sohail Ahmad and Khurram Farid Bargatt, vice chairman town planning for Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners.
Speaking on the occasion, Shafiq Akbar, chairman of Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies, said the IIPS will be leading the way in the comprehensive mapping and digitization of urban land in the entire country through Prop Sure Digital Solutions, with over 3.5 marla pieces of land already digitized across seven large cities of Pakistan. Leveraging this data, the institute is in a unique place to make policy recommendations to the government, regulators, academia and private sector, helping to build a fruitful and long-term collaboration between the key stakeholders in the ecosystem in Pakistan.
The IIPS is based at the state-of-the-art National Science and Technology Park at NUST in Islamabad, where teams are being deployed in two major areas. The first area covers research and development on cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and block chain. The second area covers program management in the identification and mapping of opportunities in sectors such as trade and commerce, health and medical, housing and infrastructure, tourism, hospitality, education, poverty alleviation and others.
