ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said India's disinformation campaign against Pakistan was in full swing, which needed to be countered by acquiring 'cyber strength'. India had not learnt lesson even after EU Disinfo Lab had exposed its anti-Pakistan nefarious propaganda, however, Pakistan should 'intellectually' counter it by acquiring 'cyber strength', besides using other conventional modes of security.

Speaking here at 10th convocation ceremony of Air University President Alvi highlighted eed for world's fifth most populous nation to gain knowledge in contemporary fields, particularly artificial intelligence, cyberspace, and data-driven technology. He said though Pakistan had achieved professional prowess in traditional and conventional defence such as nuclear deterrence, gaining a strong foothold in cyberspace was also vital for its survival.

He pointed out that in last year's global cyber ranking, Pakistan was placed nowhere on list. Situation, he said demanded an overhaul in choices of career pathways, besides major shift in retrogressive mindset. He said cyber knowledge was one of best tools to equip country's big youth bulge with contemporary skills. He mentioned that huge quantum of data based on pattern recognition was available in world that needed skill of artificial intelligence to quantify and analyze it.

He emphasised importance of carrying out thorough research on job markets by Higher Education Commission (HEC) as it would produce skilled human resource to match demands of national and international organisations, thus aptly addressing unemployment in country. About Air University's maiden batch of Cyber Security discipline, Dr Alvi expressed confidence that graduates would play vital role in safeguarding Pakistan's cyberspace.

About 1,300 bright graduates from undergraduate, as well as MS and PhD programmes, received medals and degrees in various disciplines.

Earlier, Air University Vice Chancellor Air Marshal (retd) Javaid Ahmed thanked President Alvi and HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed. He lauded vision of Air Chief for modernising and reinstating tech arena through projects under National Aerospace and Technology Park (NASTP). He said Air University would continue to impart quality education, research, innovation and technology to students and would make meaningful contributions to national cause.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 28 2023

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