Technology vital in developing engineering and health sectors
Kuwait’s first-ever tech seminar kicks off
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 12, (KUNA): Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and Belgium’s Interuniversity Micro Electronics Center (Imec) organized a “Visionary Seminar, Exploring Technology for a Sustainable Future” on Wednesday.
The first-ever event in the Arab world focuses on the importance of technology in developing engineering and health sectors, said KFAS Director General Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin in his opening speech.
Investment in infrastructure, but more importantly, in the development of human capital is key towards advancements in science and technology, he said. The outcome of such investments is evidenced by the enormous progress that has been achieved by a great number of individuals and enterprises in many countries around the world, he added.
As an example of such progress, the Intel processor today is the size of a finger nail and has over seven billion transistors (Xeon Broadwell), each is 14 nanometers in size. So what was once considered to be unimaginable, is today’s reality, KFAS’ official noted.
Kuwait strongly believes in the importance of global technological advancement to world economies, and KFAS believes that enabling Kuwaiti scientists, engineers, the business community and society at large with these technological advancements is the pathway to a sustainable, knowledgebased future for Kuwait, he added.
KFAS encourages collaborative projects among national, regional and international institutions in areas of mutual interest particularly in water, energy and environment, Shihab-Eldin said. He noted that in 2015, KFAS provided a total of KD 6.5 million in grants for funding mission-oriented collaborative research projects aimed at addressing key national priorities.
The research is undertaken by local institutions such as Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Kuwait University (KU) and international centers of research excellence such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
KFAS also, facilitates market penetration of technologies that can be of great benefit to Kuwait. As an example, KFAS recently sponsored some vital pilot and demonstration projects to promote the expanded use of roof-top solar panels in residential buildings and parking areas in cooperative societies.
The project will contribute to fulfilling the vision of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, which calls for reducing 15 percent of total electricity demand by 2030, he added.
The one-day seminar, was attended by over 300 researchers and others involved in field of technology from private and public sectors.