President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday called for taking proactive measures to develop the Information Technology (IT) sector to ensure economic and scientific development of the country. He said that globally, the focus of development policies was shifting from brick-and-mortar development projects to the intellectual development of human resources and Pakistan needed to adopt this modern strategy. The President expressed these views at a briefing on the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES), given by its Rector Dr Ayub Alvi, at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The meeting was attended by Chancellor NUCES Wasim Sajjad, Secretary General of Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology Ghulam Shabbir, Member Board of Trustees Dr UAG Isani and the members of Board of Governors including Dr Samar Mubarakmand, Justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal, Ahmad Farooq and Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh. The Rector NUCES gave a presentation about the role and achievements of the university in promoting IT education in the country. He informed that NUCES was the largest provider of human resources to the computer software industry of the country and currently, 13,000 students were enrolled in various programmes in five campuses of the university. He apprised that 24,000 students had graduated, since the year 2000, in various disciplines such as Computer Science, Engineering, Management and Humanities. The Rector also highlighted that the institution provided Rs 240 million each year in financial assistance and scholarships to needy and brilliant students, stating that currently 1,500 students were benefiting from financial aid provided by the university. The President appreciated the role and performance of the University in promoting education and emphasized the need to develop collaboration with the private sector, saying that academia-industry linkages were essential for the progress of the country. He also urged the need to increase the number of students with a special focus on the provision of hybrid and online education. The President asked the management to prepare the students keeping in view the requirements of the fourth Industrial Revolution and focus on research and development.