NED set to address local challenges for technology-driven climate actions

NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan and University of West of Scotland, UK announced working jointly to develop technological solutions for monitoring and predictions related to climate change in Pakistan.
The project emerged from “Going Global Partnership PAK-UK Education Gateway Mobility Partnership for Faculty” supported by the British Council and Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. The mobility partnership enabled the researchers from both participating universities to visit each other to strengthen their research collaboration in the area of climate change.
The researchers from NED University and the University of West of Scotland (UWS) informed the participants that they are working on developing specialized Internet of Things (IoT) based sensors for monitoring climate changes and collecting the data for forecasting and predictions of potential anomalies. They have already launched a joint dashboard to collectively monitor the climate data coming through the sensor nodes placed at NED University and UWS. The focal person from NED University said that climate monitoring through digital sensors is a relatively cost-effective solution and scalable to micro and macro levels. Moreover, it enables us to develop specialized sensors to meet the requirements of any application. Currently, the research team from NED and UWS is working on expanding their sensor network to collect data from different locations. The focal person from UWS mentioned the importance of availability of accurate data to properly address the challenges associated with climate change. As Pakistan has been severely affected by climate change, data-driven policies and practices need to be adopted to minimize the impact.
In addition to the research and development activities, the team is thriving for active stakeholder engagement to address this important issue. The focal person from NED University says that strong collaborations are essential to properly address this important issue. All stakeholders from industry, academia, research organizations, professional bodies, and policymakers should join hands to identify and actively tackle the local challenges in this area. We have initiated several activities to increase stakeholder involvement and to create public awareness of the issue. These activities include arranging an international conference on Technology Driven Climate Actions at NED University, arranging a symposium on Digital Connectivity & Innovation for Sustainable Futures at UWS, arranging several technical talks, workshops, and trainings both in UK and Pakistan, arranging focus group meetings with academic fraternity, industry professionals, government, and professional bodies.
One such meeting was arranged in collaboration with the Institute of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) in its Karachi office on 23rd October 2023. The meeting was attended by the executive committee of IEP, the research team from NED University, researchers from UWS, industrial collaborators from the UK, and representatives from local industry including the representatives from Pakistan petroleum Limited (PPL), Engro, K-Electric, Ashrae, Pakistan Plumbing Association etc. The focus of the meeting was to discuss strategies for effective collaboration and bridging the gap between industry and academia to foster the research culture for societal impact. Trust-building between different stakeholders is essential to combining expertise from different areas to identify the challenges faced by the local industry. Implementation of policies related to data security and privacy will be essential to sustain such collaborations. During the meeting it was decided to start with micro-level solutions and gradually scale up to macro level. — PR