The main campus of Information Technology University was originally envisioned as a competitor to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Indian Insitute of Technology. However, this year the site was turned into a cattle market for the residents of Lahore during Eid-ul-Azha.
Former Vice-Chancellor of ITU and Chairman of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), Dr. Umar Saif, highlighted the sad state of affairs on the eve of Eid.
Taking to Twitter, Dr. Umar penned that In 2013, the land for Pakistan’s MIT was allocated. ITU had all the ingredients of becoming the equivalent of India’s IIT. However, the main campus site for ITU was turned into a cattle market. Those responsible should be ashamed of themselves.
Dr. Umar’s goal was to establish a university in Pakistan that would boast the academic infrastructure of MIT and the academic excellence of IIT. He gained notoriety in 2011 when he was named one of the top 35 young innovators by MIT Technology Review (TR35).
Shehbaz Sharif, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab at the time, nominated Dr. Umar for the position of head of the PITB. During their meeting, Dr. Umar briefed Sharif about his plans for establishing a world-class IT university in Pakistan. Two years later, in 2013, the ITU was established and Dr. Umar was appointed as its founding vice-chancellor. He also became the youngest vice chancellor of any national higher education institute.
Since 2016, ITU researchers have been awarded over Rs. 700 million in competitive research grants. Furthermore, ITU established a startup incubator called Plan9 which served as a launchpad for Pakistan’s startup ecosystem by launching hundreds of startups.
The allocation of 183 acres of land on Barki Road in Lahore for the main campus of ITU in 2013 unfortunately never came to fruition. The state-of-the-art main ITU campus never materialized. Sadly, the land site ended up serving as a cattle market on the occasion of Eid.
