ICICT 2019 Conference Banquet at Governor House

November 16, 2019: The first day of the 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies (ICICT) organized by the IBA Faculty of Computer Science was concluded with the Presidential Dinner at the Governor's House on Saturday evening. The theme of the conference was Next Generation Technologies. The dinner was attended by the President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi.

The ceremony started with an opening address by the Acting Executive Director of IBA, Dr. Sayeed Ghani. Dr. Ghani informed the President and the audience that over the past 15 years the ICICT conference has become internationally established with papers being received from North America, Europe, Middle East the Far East and China. Dr. Ghani emphasized that the themes of the conference being Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Fintech align very well the President's Initiative on AI and Computing (AIC). He then spoke about how IBA has evolved as a premier academic institution providing quality education and how IBA reaches to provide opportunities and financial assistance to those coming from under privileged backgrounds.

The chief guest of the evening, President Dr. Arif Alvi spoke about how technology has evolved over the past few decades. He stated that the Government realizes the potential in the technological domain, and has been trying to provide platforms, and opportunities to promote this cause. He praised the audience for pursuing research in the field of Next Generation Technologies and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Alvi elaborated on the challenges that lie ahead in the journey of transforming Pakistan in the field of technology and the solutions to overcome these challenges. Dr Alvi's address also reflected on his deep passion to unleash the potential that technology carries for Pakistan.

The president also presented mementos to the esteemed international and national delegates and authors along with faculty members and staff of IBA. The address was followed by dinner which marked the end of the ceremony.