The Innovation and Technology Centre (ITC) was established in 2015 with the aim to promote innovation – vital for economic and developmental growth in Pakistan. The Directors of the Centre are Dr. Azam Amjad Chaudhry, Dean and Professor of the Faculty of Economics, and Dr. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry, Professor, Faculty of Economics.

The Lahore School of Economics’ Innovation and Technology Centre (ITC) is a platform for academics, the business community and the public sector to collaborate in areas of economic and social importance, including: innovation and technology, macroeconomic
and microeconomic constraints facing firms, productivity growth, manufacturing, export promotion, and environmental sustainability. In addition to its internationally recognized academic output produced every year, the ITC conducts annual surveys of manufacturers, exporters and policymakers on business confidence, technology adoption, innovation, and export competitiveness.

The Centre enjoys a wide range of connections with top-level policymakers (at both the federal and provincial levels), the Chambers of Commerce of various major cities of Pakistan (many of whom it has collaborated with, on a project -by-project basis) and manufacturers (with whom it has interacted during projects and extensive survey work).

The ITC is currently engaged in a variety of exciting projects measuring innovation in the soccer ball industry, readymade garments sector, light engineering sector, automotive sector, surgical goods sector, and other export sectors, as well as developing models that estimate the poverty gap in Pakistan and model Pakistan’s macroeconomy. Currently, the research team is also working on a soccer ball project which examines the impact of subsidizing high-quality inputs on quality up-gradation in the soccer ball manufacturing sector, as well as projects analysing innovation and technology in the Sialkot surgical goods sector, the overall Pakistani textile sector, the light engineering sector, and Punjab automotive sector.