Development of the Hydro-Agro Informatics (HAI) Program: Advancing Water and Agricultural Innovation
We are excited to share updates from an important meeting held at the U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology. This meeting focused on developing the Hydro-Agro Informatics (HAI) Program as part of the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT) Project, which the World Bank supports.
The meeting brought together a distinguished delegation from the World Bank, USPCAS-W experts, and the Bangladesh CEGIS team to discuss the Phase-1 activities for designing the HAI Program. Key attendees included:
– Mr. Nazir Ahmed Memon, Project Coordinator, PCMU, SWAT, P&D Department, Government of Sindh (GoS)
– Mr. Greg Browder, Global Lead for Water and Team Leader for SWAT, World Bank
– Mr. Zelalem Tesfaye Mekonnen, WRM Specialist, World Bank
– Mr. Olivier Durand, Agriculture Specialist, World Bank
– Mr. Naseer Memon, Consultant, World Bank
– Dr. Liaqat Ali Bhutto, Project Director, ADU, SWAT, Agriculture Department, GoS
– Mr. G. Mustafa Ujjan, Program Implementation Advisor, ADU, SWAT
– Dr. M. Azmat, FAO Water Expert
– Representatives from the Sindh Irrigation and Agriculture Departments
Prof. Dr. Kamran Ansari, Director of USPCAS-W, presented a comprehensive overview of the HAI Program. He discussed the preamble, approach, methodology, and proposed services, highlighting the current situation, gap analysis, needs assessment, HAI framework, and the strategic way forward.
The meeting concluded with an engaging Q&A session, promoting collaboration and actionable insights to advance the HAI Program. This initiative aims to transform water and agricultural management in Sindh through advanced technologies such as data centers, remote sensing, GIS, visualisation, decision support systems, and data analytics, all of which will contribute to sustainable development and climate resilience.
