Report by Engineering Post
The Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication is planning to launch a rather large number of 20 thousand online artificial intelligence (AI) training programmes under the National AI Advancement Initiative aiming at equipping the country’s workforce for the digital economy.
According to the information available from the official sources concerned, the 6-to-12 months courses will be targeting fresh graduates , teachers, government functionaries, freelancers and professionals from various industries through an advanced learning management system.
The initiative was aimed at improving the workforce capabilities, encouraging innovation and expanding AI adoption in different sectors including healthcare, agriculture, education and industry.
Participants will be receiving certification in specialised fields such as machine learning , deep learning and AI ethics, while AI literacy courses will also be introduced for the civil servants and corporate executives thereby supporting policy planning and technology adoption.
Official sources maintained that AI could help Pakistan in expanding its presence in the global IT industry, where the country was currently holding less than one percent share. Rapid upskilling of the young professional would be necessary for meeting increasing demand in the local and Gulf markets.
Under the National AI Policy 2025, Pakistan aims to train more than one million people in AI-related skills by 2030, including 10 thousand trainers, twenty thousand annual internships and 3000 advanced research scholarships each year.
IT and AI experts on being contacted said that adoption of AI tools have become necessary for remaining competitive in the international job market and as such AI education was essential to begin at the secondary school level.
