Before their interaction with universities and industry, METU Technology Park Manager Tolga Ozbolat and Deputy Manager Ufuk Batum held a meeting with HEC Executive Director Dr. Sohail Naqvi and he said that experts would have one-on-one meetings with universities and industry, besides holding a one-day workshop on Technology Parks.
The experts will share METU experience on technology parks with our universities and judge potential for technology parks in Pakistan as well as possible applications, including non-traditional applications, suitable for Pakistan s environment, he said. The experts will get an overview and assessment of the prevailing conditions, including status of IT software development, telecommunication industry, industrial development and service industries, including financial institutions, in Pakistan. They will also provide awareness for legislative requirement and establishment of Technology Parks Financial Fund.
While clarifying the concept of Technology Park, he said that Technology Park is an organization managed by specialized professionals, with the aim to increase wealth of its community economy by promoting culture of novelty and competitiveness of its associated business and knowledge based institutions. To achieve these goals, Technology Park motivates and manages the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets.
He revealed that the METU Technology Park generated revenue of 150 million dollars annually from contract research as it is the first and oldest such park in Turkey. He emphasized on the fact that the world over, universities were working alongside the industry and hence registering remarkable growth.
He said that the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), established by HEC in universities, is aimed to develop, expand, enhance and manage the university s research programmes and to link research activities directly to the educational, social and economic priorities of the university and its broader community. We want universities to own their research. For this purpose, university staff is being trained to understand the concept, he said.