Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Research and Development: A Case of University of the Punjab-Pakistan

Abstract

This study explores the research trends at Pakistani universities by highlighting the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the research process and its productivity. It also investigates the impact of Higher Education Commission (HEC) initiatives for research output in Pakistani universities in general and PU, in particular. It explores the essential ICT skills to increase research productivity as perceived by researchers from the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences through structured interviews. An analysis of HEC of Pakistan and PU websites is carried out. The statistics of these websites shows that there is an increase in the number of research articles and PhDs produced every year. Data show that the respondents are not fully utilizing the pricey electronic sources provided by the HEC, yet there is a yearly increase in a number of PhDs produced and published research. The relative growth rate of research productivity and doubling time were not constant. It is also observed that doubling time has increased while the relative growth rate is going to decrease.