The Information Technology University (ITU) () is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Founded in 2012, the university was founded and headed by

Umar Saif Umar Saif (; born 1979) is a Pakistani computer scientist and academic. He is known for his contributions to the tech ecosystem in Pakistan. He is the founder and CEO of aiSight.ai (formerly SurveyAuto Inc.), Chief Digital Officer of the Jang G ...

and is modeled after the MIT. The university is located within the high-rise

Arfa Software Technology Park Arfa Software Technology Park (previously known as Software Technology Park) is a skyscraper building and information technology park at Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan. Built in 2009, it is home to the Information Technology University and ...

, while its permanent 183 acre campus is under construction on Barki Road. The university has varying degrees of partnerships with the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and also publishes the ''MIT Technology Review'', Pakistan edition. The university is home to several

tenured Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

academics, Pakistan's largest

startup incubator A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend t ...

and maintains partnerships with

EdX edX is an American For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit massive open online course provider. It was founded by MIT and Harvard. It is a subsidiary of 2U (company), 2U. History edX was founded in May 2012 by the admi ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

and the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. It hosted

International Development Design Summit The International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is a collaboration to find cost effective technology solutions for the third world. It was first held in 2007 at MIT. It is held annually to study problems in the developing world and create real ...

, organised by

IDIN The International Development Innovation Network (IDIN) is a network led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITD-Lab It is funded by the United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International D ...

and

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

(USAID).

History

Foundation

ITU was established in 2013.

Faculty

The university was formerly led by

(PhD from

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

) who has previously taught at the Cambridge–MIT Institute. Dr. Sarfraz Khurshid (PhD from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

) was the second Vice Chancellor of the University. Prof. Dr. Adnan Noor Mian (PostDoc from

) is the current Vice Chancellor of the University. It has four faculties: * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences * Faculty of Business and Management Sciences * Faculty of Sciences * Faculty of Engineering

Offered Degrees

The university currently offers the following degrees: * BS Economics with Data Science * BS Management and Technology * BS Computer Engineering * BS Electrical Engineering * BS Computer Science * Executive MBA (EMBA) * MS Public Policy and Society * MS Management and Technology * MS Development Studies: DEVELOPMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY * MS Data Science * MS Electrical Engineering * MS Computer Science * PhD Computer Science * PhD Electrical Engineering

Research

ITU is home to several research centers and labs: * Center for Technology and Governance (CTG) * Technology and Research in Emerging Networks and Distributed Systems (TRENDS) * Neighborhood for Emerging World Technologies (NEWT) * Abdus Salam International Center of Mathematics * Center For Speech and Language Technologies * National Centre For Academic Integrity * Bio-Inspired Simulation & Modelling of Intelligent Life * Embedded Computing Laboratory * Scientometrics Lab * Data Science Lab * Business Analytics Lab * Vision Processing Lab * Innovations for Poverty Alleviation Lab (IPAL) Between 2013 and 2016 the university has conducted PKR 700 million (approx. US $7 million) in research in

science, technology, engineering and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

(STEM). It has received research funding from

Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) The Higher Education Commission (colloquially known as HEC) is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulating ...

, Government of the Punjab,

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit The (GIZ, ) is the main development agency of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn and provides services in the field of development cooperation, international development cooperation and international education work. The organizat ...

(GIZ),

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

(DfID).

First Convocation

The university's first convocation was held on December 17, 2017. The university awarded its first Honorary Doctorate Degree awarded to Dr.

Adil Najam Adil Najam () is a Pakistani academic who also serves as the global President of WWF, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (starting July 2023), and is Dean Emerıtus and Professor of International Relations and Earth and Environment at the Pardee ...

, the inaugural Dean of the

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies The Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies (formally Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies) is the school of international studies at Boston University. The school was officially established in 2014 by consolidating and renam ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and former Vice Chancellor of the

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences, also known by its acronym LUMS, is a Private university, private research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1985, it is ranked as one of the most prestigious modern Li ...

(LUMS). 139 students of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

graduated in the first convocation.

Lahore Technology Award

ITU gave Lahore Technology Award at its first convocation to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

’s

Nergis Mavalvala Nergis Mavalvala (born 1968) is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist. She is the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is also the dean of the university's school of ...

for her work in the gravitational theory.

References

{{authority control Public universities and colleges in Punjab, Pakistan Computer science institutes in Pakistan 2012 establishments in Pakistan Universities and colleges in Lahore Educational institutions established in 2012 Engineering universities and colleges in Pakistan