A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between PITB and Pakistan Stock Exchange to provide a platform for Startups listing for Initial Public Offerings (IPO) for raising investment from the market for those who have funds up to the tune of Rs 20 million to Rs 200 million.
The Conference held under the auspices of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)'s project TechHub, the conference opened with a keynote address by Dr Umar Saif Chairman PITB here Thursday. Over the last couple of years the conference has emerged as a unique platform for the entire IT fraternity of Pakistan for brainstorming and to voice their concerns on issues of key importance in IT space. With a diverse group of professionals consisting of academia and thought-leaders, the government collects feedback on various fronts and projects that have been initiated or are in the pipeline.
This Roundtable marked a significant step in the history of Pakistan's IT sector's development by launching the first nation-wide IT Census. Dr Saif announced the commencement of the census drive, where in the first phase data from more than 3000 IT companies, 2500 partnerships and sole proprietorships, 750 startups and more than 5000 freelancers shall be documented. Dr Saif said that IT Census holds high importance for our IT sector by providing reliable and verifiable data to help make accurate projections. A delegation led by the Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to visit China soon to include IT sector in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), informed Dr Saif.
In his address the Advisor to the Chief Minister and the Chairman PITB Dr Saif announced the establishment of IT advisory committees to provide a formal role to the industry, academia and other stakeholders in policy making. Under the umbrella of IT Advisory Committee five different committees are being setup with different agendas including IT Census Committee, Industry - Government Liaison Committee, Academia - Government Liaison Committee, Digital Advocacy Taskforce and Human Resource and Capacity Building committee.
Dr Saif also emphasized on the importance of reducing the digital divide by promoting e-literacy with the establishment of e-Rozgaar training centers in 36 districts, which will train more than 10000 graduates for online freelancing. He invited the industry members to contribute in setting up of the local market place for these freelancers. He also announced that PITB will partner with ITU and industry members to offer internationally recognized trainings and certifications to bridge the gap between labour force and the industry.
120 CEOs of leading IT companies and Vice Chancellors representing the academia, including the notable personalities who provided support to these initiatives with their presence at the day long roundtable conference were Asif Peer, CEO Systems Limited, Salim Ghauri, CEO Netsol, Nighat Dad, Executive Director of Digital Rights Foundation, Salman Ansari, CEO at Technology Consultants, Imran Moinuddin, Founder and CEO of NexDegree, Faisal Shuja Khan, CEO Ovex Technologies, Dr Fazal Ahmad Khan, VC of UET and Dr Rukhsana Kausar, VC LCWU. The moot concluded with Q & A session.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017