Emirates adds another feather in its cap with Gerry the Goose ‘Fly Better’ campaign

New TV and online advertising campaign takes playful look at the airline’s Fly Better philosophy

Karachi: Following in the footsteps of iconic film and TV personalities Jennifer Aniston, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Clarkson, Emirates latest brand ambassador Gerry the Goose is inviting customers to take a gander at the benefits and services of the world’s largest international airline, and choose to ‘Fly Better’.

From September, the global ad campaign will be in full flight across the USA and Europe, reminding customers that Emirates provides an ‘impeckable’ travel experience on-board with award-winning in-flight entertainment, world-class cabin crew, regionally inspired cuisine and acclaimed beverages. To compliment the ‘best-in sky’ offering, Emirates also offers an impressive on-ground experience– through a myriad of online and home check-in options, chauffeur-driven airport transfers and outstanding lounges.

The campaign storyline follows Gerry as he ruffles feathers by deciding to Fly Better aboard a comfortable and sophisticated Emirates Premium Economy cabin, while his migrating bird-brethren are in ‘fowl humour’ after a long and tiring flight by wing. Gerry is spotted smugly bypassing his counterparts as they fly outside the plane window, while he indulges in a delicious meal and reclines in his spacious seat to enjoy ‘The Goose, The Bad and The Ugly’ movie on his 13.3” personal entertainment screen.

‘In terms of the qualities and profile we look for in our brand ambassadors – we are spreading our wings,’ said SVP of Marketing & Brand at Emirates, Richard Billington. ‘Gerry is a savvy traveller who knows what he wants and where he wants to go- but he’s adamant he’ll do it in style, with luxury and comfort as a priority. Having witnessed his seamless travel experience, we are confident that next time his friends will choose to Fly Better.’Gerry the Goose Bio
Gerry’s career began in Emirates Headquarters in Dubai, where the concept of his journey was ideated and began to take flight. Then onto to Untold Studios in London, where initial 3D models of geese were brought to life via Computer-Generated Imagery (GCI). The CGI and filming process took 14 weeks and involved a talented team finessing every feather along with lighting and texture, while ensuring carefully created movements brought the character to life. This included time to animate Gerry’s friends, a shoot in London to capture the nature scenes, and a shoot on board Emirates’ aircraft in Dubai.

Relatively new to the acting scene, Gerry cites his career highlight so far as being featured in the Emirates TV ad campaign. The ad will run in 25 countries for one month, starting with the USA on the 30th August, followed by Europe.

Throughout filming, Gerry collaborated with British voiceover talent Michael Cronin to capture the dulcet tones of an experienced nature documentarist.

Gerry’s species heritage is Canada goose (Branta canadensis), large wild geese with black heads and necks, white cheeks, white under the chin, and a brown body. They are native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, found during migration across the Atlantic in northern Europe.

Gerry the Goose admires the acting work of Ryan Gosling, who he says ‘gives him goose bumps’.

Spotify Celebrates the Voices and Stories of Women Creators in the First Episode of Spotify Talks

Momina Mustehsan, EQUAL Ambassador for September joins Natasha Baig, Zoha Zuberi and Rutaba Yaqub in a candid conversation about the experience of being a woman in music

Karachi– After launching EQUAL in Pakistan earlier this year, a global music program committed to raising the volume on women artists, Spotify debuts Spotify Talks, a digital series covering hard-hitting conversations, with the first episode dedicated to celebrating being a woman artist in Pakistan and the impact of EQUAL to date.

Featuring singer, songwriter, philanthropist, and household name, Momina Mustehsan, EQUAL Pakistan’s Ambassador for the Month of September, the first episode of Spotify Talks will be hosted by Anoushey Ashraf, joined by the mutli-faceted stars Natasha Baig and Zoha Zuberi, the EQUAL Pakistan Ambassadors for June and July, and Rutaba Yaqub, Spotify’s Music Manager for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The episode titled ‘Women in Music’ sheds light on the challenges women artists face in Pakistan while also reflecting on how the space for women in music has evolved over the years. Sitting down for a candid conversation, these torch bearers for the achievements of women in the audio industry of Pakistan, will share glimpses of their journey and how Spotify has played a role as a platform powering their discovery and elevating their work globally.

As EQUAL Pakistan Ambassador for this month, Momina Mustehsan, commented, “Pakistani [1] women in music are resilient – they manage to bring their own seats to the table despite limited opportunities by proving their abilities to extents that cannot be ignored.”

“Platforms like Spotify are crucial for that. They serve as equalizers to tackle systemic inequalities historic to conventional broadcast. A program like EQUAL helps extend a seat to a global table, with the purpose of passing it forward for others to join.”

Momina’s melodious and soul stirring song, “Tera Woh Pyar (Nawazishein Karam)” from Coke Studio Season 09, is featured on the EQUAL Pakistan playlist and EQUAL Global, increasing the discovery of her music around the world.

The first conversation of Spotify Talks will launch on Monday, September 26, at 4:00 PM on the Spotify Talks microsite. Expect a witty yet impactful dialogue as EQUAL Ambassadors tell their stories and share insights on how to make it in the music industry.

Through Spotify Talks, Spotify is leveraging its platform to bring together key industry players, tastemakers, and experts to have conversations about the latest movements across music, technology and entertainment in Pakistan.

NdcTech enters into a strategic collaboration with Red Hat

NdcTech, a global IT and consulting company providing transformational services for Banks and financial institutions has announced a collaboration with Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of enterprise open-source solutions, to deliver solutions based on cloud-native, open-source technologies in support of financial institutions.

As part of this collaboration between the two entities, Red Hat recognizes NdcTech as a regional systems integrator in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. NdcTech is also one of the 42 Implementation partners for banking software company Temenos, which recently expanded its collaboration with Red Hat to integrate open-source solutions with Temenos cloud-native banking services. NdcTech is committed to working closely with both Temenos and Red Hat to help organizations navigate this new world of digital banking using Temenos digital and core banking solutions such as Temenos Infinity and Temenos Transact on Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform.

Red Hat and NdcTech have initiated a pilot program through which NdcTech’s Temenos certified consultants will receive Red Hat Training and hands-on experience in implementing Red Hat solutions, including Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Application Services. NdcTech will help ensure the delivery of an integrated and properly functioning environment to the end customers. The pilot will allow NdcTech to offer more versatile and flexible cloud-native deployment options of Temenos and Red Hat solutions to their new and existing customers.

Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud portfolio provides increased scalability and flexibility with enhanced security features to help reduce costs for organizations to deliver more streamlined customer experiences and services based on hybrid cloud infrastructure. Through this collaboration, NdcTech and Red Hat will target new markets with offerings supported by innovative cloud-native technologies and better support customers with go-to-market strategies.

On this occasion, Ammara Masood, CEO NdcTech said: “We are delighted to have a strategic collaboration with Red Hat at a global level, the world’s leading provider of open-source enterprise solutions. Through this collaboration, we will build expertise in the latest cloud-native and containerized modern stacks using Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Application Services supporting Temenos solutions.

NdcTech will now transform its banking clients on the most modern architectures and fast pace their modernization journeys onto the cloud. We also believe that this will further strengthen our capabilities and vision to build banks of the future.”

“Collaborating with a robust ecosystem of capable, expert partners such as NdcTech is critical in supporting customers within the financial services industry and beyond to better build and manage hybrid cloud environments at the scale and speed they need. In establishing this pilot program with NdcTech, we are bringing together expertise across Red Hat, Temenos and NdcTech to better enable customers with digital banking solutions built on Red Hat open hybrid cloud solutions such as Red Hat OpenShift. Having been recently named as Technology Partner of the Year by Temenos, Red Hat looks forward to collaborating with other Temenos partners like NdcTech to translate to solid technical foundation into business value for our banking customers,” said Rob Spittel, Director, Global FSI Ecosystem, Red Hat.

Fly Emirates to Dubai and enjoy free tickets to the Museum of the Future, one of Dubai’s most famous landmarks

Journey through possible futures at one of the city’s biggest new attractions with this incredible offer on all bookings made until 2 October 2022

Karachi- Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has launched an exciting new offer for holidaymakers planning a trip to Dubai between 22 September and 8 December 2022. From today, all Emirates customers can now enjoy a complimentary ticket to the Museum of the Future – one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Starting today, this special offer is valid for all tickets to Dubai purchased using code MFUTURE until 2 October 2022. The offer is available on bookings made on emirates.com, Emirates Call centre or via participating travel agents, for travel from 22 September 2022 until 8 December 2022 in any cabin class.*

The complimentary ticket to The Museum of the Future entitles travellers to one admission during the working hours of the museum and must be booked on museumofthefuture.ae against a redemption code sent by Emirates prior to the planned visit and used latest by 15 December 2022. *

The Museum of the Future is the star attraction everyone’s talking about in Dubai, and are welcoming all ages to see, touch and shape our shared future. Inside an incredible building that’s been dubbed one of the most beautiful in the world, you can explore the future 50 years from now in an incredibly immersive and sensory experience.

Fly into space, explore the wonders of nature, and get closer to the technology that will change the way we live. Kids will love being Future Heroes and taking on challenge missions to create a brighter tomorrow.

Explore more of Dubai with Emirates
Emirates has safely restarted operations to more than 130 destinations, across six continents and currently operates over 53 flights per week from Pakistan to Dubai.

Whether seeking a city break, a beach getaway, a relaxing retreat, a unique desert experience, or a stopover, there is something for every traveller when visiting Dubai. From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to world class hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai offers a variety of world-class experiences.

• Dubai Experience: Customers can now browse, create and book their own customised itineraries including flights, hotel stay, visits to key attractions, and other dining and leisure experiences in Dubai and the UAE, through Emirates’ Dubai Experience platform, and enjoy even more unique benefits.
• Skywards partners: Members of Emirates’ award-winning loyalty programme, Skywards, can earn Miles on everyday spends at retail outlets in the UAE, and redeem these Miles for reward tickets, upgrades, as well as tickets for concerts and sports events. Learn more about Emirates Skywards here: https://www.emirates.com/pk/english/skywards/.

For more information, visit emirates.com. Tickets can be purchased on emirates.com, Emirates Sales Office, via travel agents or through online travel agents.

Emirates and United Expand Market Presence Through New Agreement

Emirates customers to connect on United to nearly 200 new cities in the Americas, through Chicago, San Francisco and Houston

Emirates and United announced a historic commercial agreement today that will enhance each airline’s network and give their customers easier access to hundreds of new destinations* within the United States and around the world.

From November, Emirates customers flying into Chicago, San Francisco, and Houston – three of the biggest business hubs in the U.S – will be able to easily connect onto United flights to and from nearly 200 cities across the Americas on a single ticket.

At the eight other U.S. airports served by Emirates – Boston, Dallas, LA, Miami, JFK, Orlando, Seattle and Washington DC – both airlines will have an interline arrangement in place.

United will launch a new direct flight between Newark and Dubai starting in March 2023 – from there, customers will be able to travel on Emirates or its sister airline flydubai to more than 100 cities. Tickets for United’s new Dubai flight are now on sale.

Emirates and United announced their agreement today at a ceremonial event at Dulles International Airport, hosted by United CEO Scott Kirby and Emirates President Sir Tim Clark, featuring United and Emirates Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and flight crews from each carrier.

Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “Two of the biggest, and best-known airlines in the world are joining hands to fly people better to more places, at a time when travel demand is rebounding with a vengeance. It’s a significant partnership that will unlock tremendous consumer benefit and bring the United Arab Emirates and the United States even closer. We welcome United’s return to Dubai next year, where our hub Dubai essentially becomes a gateway for United to reach Asia, Africa and the Middle East via the combined network of Emirates and flydubai. We look forward to developing our partnership with United for the long term.”

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines said: “This agreement unites two iconic, flag carrier airlines who share a common commitment to creating the best customer experience in the skies. United’s new flight to Dubai and our complementary networks will make global travel easier for millions of our customers, helping boost local economies and strengthen cultural ties. This is a proud moment for both United and Emirates employees, and I look forward to our journey together.”

Customers of both airlines can soon book these connecting flights on a single ticket – making check-in and luggage transfer faster and easier. For example – travellers will be able to visit United.com or use the United app to book a flight from New York/Newark to Karachi, Pakistan or go to Emirates.com to book a flight from Dubai to Atlanta or Honolulu.

This agreement will also give the loyalty program members of both airlines more opportunities for more rewards: Emirates Skywards members can soon earn miles when they travel on United operated flights, and United Mileage Plus members flying on United’s New York/Newark to Dubai flight will be able to earn and redeem miles when connecting beyond on Emirates and flydubai.

Eligible customers travelling on codeshare flights will also soon enjoy access to Emirates and United lounges. More details on frequent flyer awards and lounge sharing benefits will be communicated in the coming weeks.

Both airlines have recently announced significant investments in the customer experience. Emirates will retrofit more than 120 aircraft as part of a $2 billion effort that includes elevated meal choices, a brand-new vegan menu, a ‘cinema in the sky’ experience, cabin interior upgrades, and sustainable choices. At United, the airline will add 500 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft to its fleet with a focus on a new signature interior that includes seat-back screens in every seat, larger overhead bins, Bluetooth connectivity throughout, and the industry’s fastest available in-flight WiFi.

Meta Donates 125M Rupees for Flood Relief Efforts

KarachiIn response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, Meta is contributing 125 Million Rupees to UNICEF, Hands and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) to help communities impacted by the floods. The donation will support emergency aid, food, water, sanitation and help children get back to school in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Prior to the donation when the flooding began, Safety Check was activated on Facebook as it allowed people to let friends and family know they were safe. A Crisis page was also established where people could use the Community Help feature to enable people to ask for and offer help from different communities.

“Pakistan is going through one of the worst natural disasters we have seen to date. Millions of people are affected and the entire nation is rallying to support them during this difficult time. We hope that our contributions help the communities impacted by the catastrophe and our thoughts are with these communities and families as they try to recover,” said Jordi Fornies, Director for Emerging Markets, APAC at Meta.

Additionally, Meta’s ‘Data for Good’ activated its Disaster Maps program and is providing data to regional response partners.  One of those partners, CrisisReady (a collaboration between Direct Relief and Harvard University), has focused on combining data sources into situation reports being used daily by thousands of on-the-ground first responders.

“The torrential monsoon rains over the past weeks have damaged or completely washed away people’s houses, critically affecting millions of people, including children. With winter just weeks away in some parts of the country, we need urgent help to continue our relief efforts in Pakistan and support for children and their families. We express our gratitude to Meta for all the support,” said Michael J. Nyenhuis, President and CEO of UNICEF USA.

Communities across various Meta-owned platforms have raised more than a million dollars for non-profits supporting flood relief efforts. Leading NGOs across the globe have also raised substantial amounts via Facebook and Instagram.

Commenting on the development, Baela Raza Jamil, CEO, ITA, said, “We will rehabilitate schools, ensure 2nd Chance Accelerated learning programs with life skills (psychosocial support, climate change and digital literacy), and provide hygiene & health with dignity kits. This is a comprehensive and inclusive approach to #BuildingBackBetter by reaching homes, communities, schools, parents, children, and especially adolescent girls and teachers embedded within government systems for effective emergency response and preparedness.”

Meta is continuously exploring further avenues to facilitate not just families in the devastated regions but also supporting NGOs and other causes in their efforts.

 

 

National Incubation Centre Lahore at LUMS holds Investor Summit for its 9th Cohort of Entrepreneurs

Lahore: The National Incubation Centre Lahore (NICL) at LUMS held its capstone event – the Investor Summit, which brought together its 9th Cohort of change-driven start-ups, pitching their ventures in Agritech, Cleantech, Edtech, Healthtech, and Fintech to seasoned investors and start-up founders in Pakistan.
The Investor Summit is the culmination of a 6-month long Foundation Programme where the necessary skills and knowledge are imparted to the incubated entrepreneurs to underpin their start-ups with real-world experience.

While addressing his experience of being part of the Investor Summit, Humayun Mazhar, Founder & CEO at CresVentures, said, “The passion, the energy, and the youth excites me, and whenever I come here at NICL, I feel younger. I love the energy of this place.” Referring to NICL’s start-ups, he added, “The start-ups graduating from here are adding value in terms of employment and revenue to the national exchequer and I’d like to see them grow in the times to come.”

“I’m thoroughly impressed by the quality and variety of founders that has only grown over the last 5 cohorts which is very refreshing. That goes to show the effort that NICL is putting in and making sure that the graduating start-ups are more mature when pitching their ideas,” said Hamza Iqbal, NICL Foundation Council Member and CEO at Healthwire, while sharing his thoughts on the work NICL is doing within the start-up ecosystem of Pakistan.

The participating start-ups at the Investor Summit were (in order of presentation) SAY Global, Roshni, Janwar Mandi, Gamma Green Recycle, Raftar Technologies, Wholly Ranch, Cashmail (Pvt.) Ltd., eBilty, Print Me All, Kitchen Collabs, Darzi Cut, Zarai Zambeel, and SAFE Space, pitching to spark investors’ interest.

NICL was founded in 2018 by Ignite National Technology Fund (IGNITE) and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MOITT), and has since graduated 152 ventures, and housed 84 female entrepreneurs in verticals of interest.

Pakistani fintech enables employees to donate to flood-affected

ABHI along with its clients, employees, users, and investors is channeling donations using its robust platform to support the bigger cause by partnering up with leading NGOs like JDC, Al-Khidmat, and Saylani who are at the forefront and are actively providing relief to flood victims on the ground.

For the first time ever in Pakistan, employed individuals who are ABHI users can empower families that have been affected by floods, by donating from their earned but unpaid salary directly from the mobile app within 30 seconds through ABHI Dost – this feature enables them to transfer the donation money directly to JDC, Al-Khidmat, or Saylani’s bank account.

In this time of urgent need, ABHI is determined to give its generous support to afflicted families and communities as they struggle to sustain themselves and rebuild their lives. With the help of the gathered donations, our partner NGOs will provide emergency support like shelter, household supplies, and food items to the ones in need.
ABHI is here to support its fellow Pakistani brothers and sisters in these tough times. Donate, to financially empower people nationwide. #abhikaro!

IT Companies Donate 15 Million for Flood Relief to Alkhidmat Foundation

Islamabad: Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) and Alkhidmat Foundation have joined hands to help alleviate the miseries of the flood-affectees in these times of crises of unprecedented proportions. P@SHA member companies have collectively donated 15 million to Alkhidmat Foundation and more contributions are on their way. As a responsible association determined to contribute to prosperity of Pakistan, P@SHA initiated the relief drill to help fellow Pakistanis in need.

Alkhidmat Foundation will ensure delivery of aid & sustenance goods on the ground in a transparent, meticulous and diligent manner. These goods include water-proof tents; linen sheets; clean drinking water; dry eatables, e.g. ready-to-eat black channa, dates & biscuits; packaged milk & juices; formula milk powder for children of various ages; stitched or ready-to-wear clothes; plastic shoes; hygiene products; raw food items such as rice, flour and lentils for people stuck in homes due to flooding outside; medical supplies for elderly, sick, mothers & children and dry fodder for the cattle as well.

Chairman Badar Khushnood said that “P@SHA issued an appeal two weeks back to its member companies to donate generously and contribute actively in this need of the hour; which has rendered millions of families displaced as one-third of Pakistan is drowned due to the floods and have lost shelter. Additionally, there are over half a million pregnant women in addition to 2 million children in the need of the baby food. The elderly, sick, expecting mothers and children need immediate medical attention and humanitarian support.”

Secretary General Hira Zainab added that “the floods during this year have been devastating. At P@SHA, we felt our responsibility to bring together the IT industry to play our small part. We brought credible NGOs as partners and also encouraged IT companies to engage in flood relief activities on their own. We are thankful to all industry leaders, who came forward and have donated over 15 million so far. We consider this as the beginning of the CSR activities that P@SHA will be undertaking with the help of the IT industry for flood-affectees.”

P@SHA’s initial estimate was to generate 10 million, but on the back of generous support, empathetic and humanitarian response from IT companies, it is now hopeful that the donations may cross as much as 50 million.

NdcTech becomes a Certified Temenos Development Partner

NdcTech, a leading IT consulting company providing digital transformational services for Banks & Financial Institutions across the globe has now become a Certified Development Partner of Temenos.

This accreditation distinguishes NdcTech’s engineering capabilities while carrying out digital transformations. The company’s extensive expertise on the Temenos product stack and in-depth knowledge of modern frameworks and development methodologies demonstrate its proficiency and skills.

This certification enables NdcTech to deploy modern technology best practices and development frameworks that are accredited by Temenos to build effective enterprise software development processes and solutions. Through this certification, NdcTech will carry out customizations for bank-specific and country-specific regulatory requirements on top of Temenos open platform for composable banking. The company will now be able to develop solutions for banks and financial institutions keeping in view regulatory requirements and evolving customer demands.

On this achievement, Ammara Masood, CEO & President of NdcTech said: “We are delighted to be certified by Temenos as a Development Partner. This certification will allow us to rapidly build innovative and country-specific solutions on the Temenos platform, paving the way for building banks of the future.”

It is pertinent to mention here that NdcTech is a certified and award-winning partner of Temenos and has successfully transformed the Core and Digital banking platforms of more than 110 Banks across the globe.

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