HanifAbid
ISLAMABAD
Dr. S. M. JunaidZaidi has been appointed as Executive Director, Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) headquarter.
A summary sent by federal ministry of Science & Technology regarding the appointment of Dr. S.M JunaidZaidi has been approved by Prime Minister office. The academic circles have hailed the decision of federal government and greeted Dr. Zaidi over his appointment.
COMSATS is an intergovernmental organization with its permanent Secretariat based in Islamabad. Established in 1994, the organization comprising 24 member countries, strives to promote South-South cooperation in the fields of Science and Technology that are most relevant to socio-economic development. Being executive director of COMSATS, he will also act as Chairman Board of Governors COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) Islamabad.
Dr. S. M. JunaidZaidi is the Founder Rector of the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Pakistan’s first exclusive institute of information technology which was awarded Charter by the Government of Pakistan in 2000 and in less than a decade, it has grown into a quality institution of higher learning under his able leadership. CIIT now has eight campuses in seven cities, a student population of more than 35,000 and faculty base of 2,887. In addition to Information Technology, the Institute offers several bachelor, master and doctoral programs in engineering, basic sciences, management sciences and architecture. DrZaidi’s professional experience spans 36 years in a diverse range of fields. The establishment of IT ventures and development of IT policies remains the epic highlight of his career.
Before assuming the leadership of CIIT, DrZaidi served in many distinguished high profile positions at the United Nations (UN) and in the Government of Pakistan. During his association with the UN, DrZaidi served as Advisor to the Malaysian Government and developed the country’s Information Technology Policy. Later, he was appointed as full time advisor with the United Nations ESCAP Asia and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology..DrZaidi undertook several advisory missions to countries like Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam as a UN-expert on IT and helped them establish their technology transfer and industrial technology information systems.
