- Supporting potential youth helps achieve SDGs
- The biggest challenge is to bridge the digital divide
Interview with Dr. Amna Khan — Director Computer Science Department, King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia
Profile:
Dr. Amna Khan is a Director of the Computer Science Department, at King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. She is a Ph. D. in robotics from Korea University, Seoul, South Korea. She has been working as a visionary educationist for more than 18 years. She has numerous international publications in high-impact factor journals. Willingness to learn new trends and technologies, combating challenges, and motivation to strive for change in society through innovation define Dr. Amna Khan. She is an active member of the Board of Faculty of many renowned universities.
In addition, she supervises research for MS and Ph. D. level students. She has joined the current university with the vision of creating an innovative, free-thinking and engaging environment for students. She is a firm believer in cultivating a partnership between industry and academia for generating meaningful workforce-ready skills and employment opportunities for students.
PAGE: What is your perspective about the impact of technology on the entire world?
Dr. Amna Khan: IT is the backbone for nearly all our routine services that we are using today. Without any doubt, the rapid adaptation of Information Technology (IT) based infrastructure has transformed societies by refining financial inclusion, improving access to trade and public services, and enhancing connectivity. The impact of IT-enabled services is evident in the healthcare sector, for instance, AI-enabled technologies are helping to save lives, diagnose diseases, assist critical patients, perform surgeries, and thus contribute to extending life expectancy.
In addition, public services have become more accessible and accountable through blockchain-powered and AI-assisted systems. The responsiveness and accuracy in implementing policies and programs are supported by Big Data.
In education, virtual learning and augmented learning-based environments have opened new opportunities for students. Moreover, the role of distance learning in education and in transforming the lives of students cannot be overlooked.
PAGE: How would you comment on academic research of IT?
Dr. Amna Khan: Academic research within the information technologies domain has always been a hot area and center of attraction for both the research community and industry. In the last 5 years or so, another interesting trend of interdisciplinary research is emerging. For beneficial research, bridging the gap between industry and academia is an important consideration as none can exist in a silo. Academic research has contributed to solving many difficult real-world problems that are now part of our daily routine. For instance, biometric systems, automated traffic violation billing systems, electronic health records, cancer detection and prediction systems, and bank transaction systems to name a few.
Research in the paradigm of the internet of things (IoT) has made the concept of a “voice-activated” household a living reality. Automated driving vehicles, UAVs (Unmanned Arial Vehicles), and AUVs (Autonomous underwater vehicles) have revolutionized agriculture, product delivery, surveillance and search-and-rescue operations. In addition, productivity is enhanced by reducing the time taken to perform a particular task. The small projects that were once academic research ideas are now an integral part of our routine such as GPS Tracker. Thus, academic research with industrial collaboration is one of the significant driving forces for developing new technologies and finding solutions for existing problems.
PAGE: Could you tell us about the interest evinced by the youth in IT?
Dr. Amna Khan: The biggest attraction in IT for today’s youth is the flexibility of controlling virtually everything with one click. Information technology has revolutionized the way we learn, and do daily tasks from home and even at work. Young people are rising to the challenge by pioneering the use of IT and driving trends in what is a dynamic and major growth industry. They are an underestimated but growing force in the international forum.
Almost half the world’s population is under the age of 25 and nearly a quarter are aged 12 to 24. Technology, particularly IT has played a significant role in young people’s rise to prominence on a global scale. It has helped them mobilize, and collaborate and given them a voice to present their vision, ideology, and resolutions and promulgate their thoughts. It has brought them together in response to social concerns despite having substantial geo-political barriers. The innovative potential of young people, combined with the power of technology, is already proving to be a powerful force on the road to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for the UN.
Today, youth actively contribute to the creation of new jobs, economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, the promotion of better health systems and access to inclusive and quality education. Information Technology had helped our youth to find unconventional and flexible means to generate revenue and create a similar stream for others in their community.
Young entrepreneurs are making an economic and financial impact by efficiently using the services provided by mobile applications and/or web applications. As the underlying technology is evolving, so are the frameworks for the respective technology. This opens new horizons of job opportunities for youth to learn, explore and devise new innovative solutions. However, the biggest challenge is to bridge the digital divide so that all can harvest the benefit together.
PAGE: What impact could IT have on the entire world, particularly in 2023?
Dr. Amna Khan: Currently, Information Technology-based services are evolving at a swift pace. Data pooling and AI are used to identify and solve issues in health care, agriculture, and the environment or to perform routine tasks such as automated navigation of cars or paying a bill. Such technologies can be used to defend and exercise human rights.
Conversely, they can be used to violate them as well by using sophisticated techniques such as monitoring the movement, customer profiling, and tracking the conversations and navigation behaviors of the user. Such type of data is in high demand as it helps governments and businesses in defining new policies and in decision-making for financial and other purposes. Therefore, by analyzing the current deep-rooted penetration of information technologies, exciting new ventures are expected for the upcoming year.