Technology – Page 133 – Pakistan Tech News

Explore the world in 2022 with Emirates’ new special fares

Get closer to long-awaited family reunions and much-needed holidays, with special fares on flights booked between 3 and 17 January 2022

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has launched a new campaign to bring passengers even closer to more unforgettable travel experiences in 2022. Emirates customers can benefit from special fares* to a variety of popular destinations including Dubai, starting from USD 275 in Economy Class and USD 1,030 in Business Class.

Market	Sale start date	Currency	Destination	Economy Class Fare	Business Class Fare
Pakistan	03-Jan-22	USD	Dubai	275	1,030
			London	650	1,950
			Istanbul	470	1,550
			Toronto	960	2,890
			New York	950	2,790

Customers participating in this unmissable offer will also have guaranteed access to flexible ticket options and COVID-19 medical travel insurance for added peace of mind.

Emirates passengers can take advantage of the promotion by booking their flight on Emirates.com or via participating travel agents from 3 to 17 January 2022, for travel dates throughout 2022 in Economy Class and Business Class.

In addition to these new special fares, customers travelling to Dubai or considering a stopover at the holiday hotspot, can enjoy even more value-add offers from Emirates:

Free Emirates Expo Day Pass: Emirates customers visiting and travelling through Dubai anytime during the Expo 2020 mega event, will be eligible to receive a free Emirates Expo Day Pass for every flight ticket booked with the airline. For more information on this promotion, please visit the dedicated offer page.

My Emirates Pass – Expo Edition: Customers travelling to or via Dubai anytime until March 31 2022, get to explore the city for less with My Emirates Pass Expo 2020 Dubai, through which they enjoy exclusive discounts and benefits at over 500 retail, dining, and recreational attractions by simply showing their Emirates boarding pass.

Earn a Mile a Minute in Dubai: Emirates customers can earn 1 Skywards Mile for every 1 minute spent in Dubai until March 31 2022. Existing and new Emirates Skywards members who sign up for the program before March 31 2022, can avail the offer Mile A Minute, and will earn up to 5,000 Miles. The offer is applicable on all Emirates flight tickets purchased between August 1 2021 and March 31 2022, for travel during Expo 2020 Dubai. Emirates marketed, flydubai operated flights with an Emirates (EK) flight number are also included in the offer.

Travelling with Emirates

Keeping the health and wellbeing of its passengers as top priority, Emirates has introduced a comprehensive set of safety measures at every step of the customer journey. The airline has also been building on its contactless technology offering and has scaled up its digital verification capabilities to provide its customers even more opportunities to utilise the IATA Travel Pass.

Emirates continues to lead the industry with innovative products and services that address traveller needs during a dynamic time. The airline has taken its customer care initiatives further with even more generous and flexible booking policies, COVID-19 medical travel insurance, and helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status.

Customers are encouraged to check their latest government travel guidelines and ensure they meet the travel requirements of their final destination. For more information on entry requirements for international visitors and residents returning to Dubai visit:

https://www.emirates.com/pk/english/help/covid-19/dubai-travel-requirements/

The National Incubation Center Hosts Huawei Cloud Connect 2021 Launch

Islamabad;-The National Incubation Center Islamabad proudly hosts Huawei Cloud Connect launch 2021. The purpose of this event was to address the need of Cloudification for the 4th industrial revolution.

An esteemed panel of profound industry experts joined the event to discuss the challenges and opportunities for start ups with cloudification. The panelists included Shaukat Ali – Managing Partner PSEB, Hank Shao – Managing Director, Huawei Cloud Business, Aiman Khan – CEO, SLOSH AI Solutions, Abdul Rahim Ahmed – Chief Information Officer, Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA). The participants and Panelists were welcomed by Parvez Abbasi, Project Director, NIC.

“NIC ‘s vision is to help young people in startups and business development which is not possible without private intervention. NIC welcomes Huawei and hopes to build a relation with startups in terms of IT and communication” — Parvez Abbasi-Project Director The panel discussed the potential and opportunities that cloud services have to offer. As a startup, investing in hardware is not an option in most cases. Cloud is a natural choice, to facilitate startups. Huawei is introducing cloud connect as a CSR, to invest back in the society and for uplifting the society technology wise.

Mr. Hank Shao elaborates that cloud connect is an innovation that helps startups to focus on their business. During this booming era of software industry and entrepreneur, the business needs to reach customers as soon as possible. Cloud connect provides a new pool of customers and services without any boundaries to its users.

SLOSH being a health-Tech startup in Pakistan, brought attention to the challenges faced by IT or digital innovators in Pakistan as there is no direct representation to resolve issues in real time. As well as trainings for the cloudification of startups. To which Huawei Cloud Connect can now act as a provider.

“These facilities, incubation centers all over Pakistan are playing a tremendous role in building a knowledge based economy. Such initiatives are the only way to create jobs and move forward with the legacy thinking we have in mind”– Shahzad Rasheed, CEO, Huawei cloud Pakistan Mr. Shaukat Ali -CTO-PSEB, explained how Pakistan has recently signed six cloud services to create a platform where any IT company can get services in affordable prices. He also discussed lack of awareness on potential of cloud services and arrangement of subsidized training courses for a comprehensive eco systems.

Mr. Farhan Ali, Director Huawei cloud Eco-System & Solutions, shed a light on the global footprint and offering by Huawei spark program for startups. Huawei cloud Spark Program is a global support program. Huawei cloud works with partners, venture capital, and governments to enable startups to help and accelerate their business development. Huawei cloud deals with more than 220 plus services sufficient to a variety of verticals, which gives its users a whole new market to innovate and come up with solutions.

“NIC Islamabad took this initiative to launch Huawei cloud connect, IGNITE is focused on promoting innovation and entrepreneurs in Pakistan. 2021 has been remarkable for Pakistani startups, 376-million-dollar worth of investment came to Pakistan.”—Asim Shehryar-CEO-IGNITE

The event was concluded with distribution of shields as a symbol to strengthen the NIC startup bond with Huawei. NIC is optimistic on its plans for a flourishing ecosystem for entrepreneurs / Startups and Huawei cloud connect will only take this to new heights.

Mobilink Microfinance Bank Ambition for Driving Digital and Financial Inclusion highlighted at DevFest 2021

Pakistan’s largest digital bank, Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited’s (MMBL’s) efforts for accelerating socio-economic growth by promoting digital and financial inclusion in the country were highlighted at the 6th Annual DevFest 2021, organized by Google Developers Groups Islamabad at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad.

As a lead collaborating partner at DevFest 2021, Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL) launched the MMBL Dost Hackathon, which was formally announced by Khurram Javaid, Head Digital Sales, Marketing and Partnerships along with Mohammad Ali Ibrahim, Head Marketing and Communications at MMBL. The 45-day Hackathon set down the foundation for making scalable problem-solving innovations in collaboration with GDG. MMBL’s digital channels provide convenient and inclusive banking products and services that are crucial to bringing more people into the financial landscape.

MMBL’s Chief Finance and Digital Officer, Sardar Mohammad Abubakr was one of the keynote speakers at the event along with the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Shibli Faraz, Corporate Outreach Lead – Google Developer Groups Islamabad, Ali Naqi Rizvi, and Senior Director Commercials Global Centre at S&P Global, Shafqaat Shah. While addressing the tech entrepreneurs and graduating students present at the event, Sardar Mohammad Abubakr stressed the importance of financial inclusion and the growing digital landscape in Pakistan. He stated, “Uplifting & upskilling the youth of Pakistan remains at the core of MMBL’s business ethos and paves the way for successful idea generation and creativity through a digitally-empowered and resilient workforce.”

MMBL’s team also showcased digital on-boarding of customers and digital lending through the DOST platform and contributed towards various sessions in the two-day event focusing on Technology, Financial Inclusion, Digital Banking, Startup Ecosystem, and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). MMBL’s Manager Transformation & Partnerships, Sundas Kazmi participated during the panel discussion in D&I. While discussing MMBL’s role in broadening horizons and providing financial support for women, she shed light on how MMBL strives to engender equality in the banking sector by designing female-centric products and services to address their financing needs and enabling them to overcome barriers restricting their access to finance. The bank’s flagship initiative, Women Inspirational Network (WIN) is specifically targeted towards the uplift of women all across Pakistan.

The MMBL stall showcasing a range of the bank’s cutting edge digital financial products and services received massive footfall, including one special visit by Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Shibli Faraz. The bank’s efforts for promoting financial inclusion in the country were appreciated by the visitors. The two-day festival was concluded with the prize distribution to the winners of the Women’s Online Safety Hackathon, which was a major component of the event, along with various workshops & codelabs, energizer & mentoring sessions, and fireside chats.

Pakistani American technology executives convene at NIC LUMS

In a bid to build stronger connections between tech diaspora in the US, and tech talent in Pakistan, Pakistani American and OPEN Seattle tech delegation, visited the National Incubation Center Lahore (NICL) at LUMS. The delegation comprised of technology executives from Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Educative, Leverify, and Data Science Dojo, looking to understand the growing entrepreneurial landscape in the country and pave the way for future collaboration.

The guests were given a tour of NICL facilities including the Makers Lab, a suite of state-of-the-art prototyping workshops; the Facebook Innovation Lab, where virtual and augmented reality solutions come to life; and a co-working space, featuring a plug-and-play set-up. They also exchanged detailed insights with Foundation Council members, and the faculty and team at NICL.

The visit will help promote collaboration and mentorship opportunities for Pakistani start-up founders, as well as technology transfer for scalable impact. The start-ups currently enrolled in the incubation programme had the opportunity to engage with the delegation and garnered interest. These range from enzymes production, AR- enhanced textbooks to enrich learning, a crowdfunding platform, online coding school for children, to gamification of physical fitness.

“It’s heartening to see the rapid growth in Pakistan’s technology space and startup potential” said Moazzam Chaudhry, who heads Product Management at Google Cloud and is the President at OPEN Global. “There is no dearth of talent and potential in Pakistan; I’ve met some start-ups today at NICL, and am impressed with their serious passion and maturity even at the early stage!”

Presenting his vision for NICL, Chairman Saleem Ahmad, stated that, “solving Pakistan’s biggest problems requires extraordinary human capital development. We are committed to doing our part in bridging the skills gaps needed to not only sustain the growth of our nascent start-up ecosystem but also create viable career opportunities for our abundant youth. Equally importantly, we aim to help local industry innovate to enhance industry productivity and global competitiveness”.

The National Incubation Center Lahore is a springboard for venture incubation and corporate innovation through an intersection of applied research, industry and talent, to solve Pakistan’s biggest problems and is supported financially by Ignite and Ministry of Information Technology.

PIA to go Paperless, MoU signed with PITB

Lahore, December 29, 2021

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have signed an MoU to implement e-Filing & Office Automation System (e-FOAS) for PIA. E-FOAS is a key PITB initiative that allows departmental workflow automation, receipt & issuance management, e-noting & e-letter management using digital signatures, electronic record room, and meeting scheduler. The system ensures efficiency, transparency and security while reducing administrative costs.

The MoU was signed by PITB Chairman Azfar Manzoor and PIA CEO Air Marshal (Rtd.) Arshad Malik in a ceremony held at Arfa Software Technology Park. Senior officials from both organizations, including PIA’s Advisor to CEO Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat, CIO Syed Asad Hasnain Bukhari, GM HR Athar Hussain, DGM IT Syed Bakir Naqvi, DM LHE Dr. Muqaddam Khan, PITB’s DG e-Governance Sajid Latif, Addl. DG, (CFS) Muhammad Waseem Bhatti, Joint Director Khawar Hafeez were also present at the event.

“E-FOAS will help in improving organizational efficiency through digitization of workflows leading to better communication and informed decision-making. E-FOAS would also facilitate in timely and effective management of daily operations by making the routine correspondence digitally accessible round-the-clock,” stated PIA CEO Air Marshal (Rtd.) Arshad Malik.

Speaking at the occasion Chairman PITB said, “e-FOAS is playing a vital role in performance improvement through digitization of work processes for both the public sector and semi-government organizations. It aims at strengthening the organizations by supporting prompt internal and external communication, eliminating ambiguities and miscommunication ensuring smoother workflows and greater transparency.”

PITB has also developed an e-FOAS Android and iOS based mobile application to access files on-the-go helping the management to stay connected and interactive in workflow processes. The integrated SMS and email gateways facilitate the users to send alerts and notifications instantly.

Emirates SkyCargo transports 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines

Emirates SkyCargo has announced that it has crossed a major milestone in the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines with 600 million doses flown on its flights. Since October 2020, the carrier has transported more than 2.8 million kilograms (2800 tonnes) of COVID-19 vaccines from 35 origins to over 80 destinations. Emirates SkyCargo operates to/from 5 cities in Pakistan and has transported more the 35 million vaccines to the country.

“Emirates SkyCargo remains committed to the rapid distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable communities around the world. When we formulated our COVID-19 distribution strategy in 2020, Emirates SkyCargo prioritized the movement of COVID-19 vaccines through our Dubai hub to developing countries. I’m happy to announce that nearly two thirds of the total vaccines we transported were headed to destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. With our extensive reach across six continents, our wide-body capacity and expertise in cool chain logistics, Emirates SkyCargo will continue to be a reliable partner for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the months to come,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, and Cargo.

With the increasing roll-out of vaccination and booster campaigns across global markets, Emirates SkyCargo witnessed a steady increase in the demand for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of 2021. In October and November 2021 alone, Emirates SkyCargo moved more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, almost one third of the total COVID-19 vaccines transported by the carrier since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emirates SkyCargo has been a key global player in the air distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and other relief materials and essential commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The air cargo carrier offers sophisticated cool chain solutions for pharmaceutical cargo with Emirates Pharma- a specialised three-tiered air transportation product designed for temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals and backed by Emirates’ state of the art GDP certified pharma infrastructure at its cargo hub in Dubai. In June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to store an additional estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cargo capacity on more than 2,800 weekly flights connecting more than 140 destinations across six continents.

SIUC recommends use of modern technologies for promotion of education in Sindh

The meeting of the Sindh Inter-University Consortium held on Thursday recommended the use of modern technologies for the promotion of education across the province. The members also emphasized adopting up-to-date teaching techniques in higher education institutions to produce better results.

The SIUC members hoped that with collective efforts they would be able to address the core issues being faced by the students and faculty of the higher education institutes of Sindh. The SIUC meeting was held at the Vice Chancellor Secretariat of the University of Karachi and presided by the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmmod Iraqi, who was appointed as the fourth Chairman of the SIUC last month.

He chaired the first meeting of the SIUC as its chairman and discussed the way forward for the consortium with the members. The members were informed that SIUC was formed to promote education in law, social sciences, engineering, and medical field at the national and international level. The SIUC was established on February 20, 2017, under Section 10 of the Sindh Higher Education Commission Act, 2010, to promote higher education, training, and research among local varsities in collaboration with international universities.

The participants agreed that research methodology should be improved and focused to produce the best results as well as enhancing human resources available at the universities established all over the province. In addition, it was proposed to enhance the existing human resource capacity through various teacher training programs. It was also emphasized to conduct various seminars and workshops through Sindh Inter-University Consortium to improve the scrutiny of research papers, assignments, and examination copies in universities.

The SIUC members stressed that teachers and students should learn from each other experiences as well as utilize laboratories and libraries established in the universities of Sindh. They observed that strong linkage between provincial universities would help the education sector of Sindh as well as students and faculty members would also be benefitted from each other’s experiences.

They were informed that Ziauddin University has finalized all the requirements and now would be able to send its students to the Northampton University of the United Kingdom for one semester through Student Exchange Program in collaboration with Northampton University UK for the management sciences and law degree programs from 2022. They were further informed that all the legal requirements have been met and implementation will begin soon.

The vice chancellors and representatives of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Ziauddin University, Institute of Business Administration Sukkur, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Lyari, Sindh Agriculture University, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Jinnah University for Women, Karachi, and coordinator SIUC Muhammad Mushahid Zuberi attended the SIUC meeting.

PM Imran Khan Inaugurated “Technopolis” Special Technology Zone in Lahore

Prime Minister Imran Khan Inaugurated “Technopolis” Special Technology Zone in Lahore and signed agreements for bringing investments worth US$300 million for its construction

While inaugurating the project, the prime minister lauded Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar and Higher Education Commission (HEC) team for paving way for building a special technology zone at a barren land spread over 800 acres in Lahore.

“Top tech companies globally have a turnover of US$1000 billion each and even Indian exports from tech have reached beyond US$150 billion,” he said and added that in comparison Pakistan only has exports worth US$1 billion from technology-related products.

He, however, said that Pakistan has a lot of potential with its 60 percent of youth population and the incumbent government is committed to supporting the technology sector and remove obstacles in their way.

This sector, the prime minister said could also resolve employment issues and would pave way for women staying at home to get jobs through online platforms.

“It is unfortunate that as Pakistan’s exports saw a hike recently, our economy witnessed a shortage of dollars, forcing the country to approach the IMF to bring financial stability,” he said and added that the country’s economy could not grow without an increase in exports.

Imran Khan said that the technology sector could alone pay off the entire debt of the country.

“The technological zones are aimed at bringing ease in the sector and take full advantage of its potential,” the prime minister said and cited examples from China and India,, where their people initially invested in those projects and later foreign investors joined them.

While giving the example of China, the prime minister said that they eliminated corruption through planning and initially terminated 450 ministerial-level people over financial wrongdoings.

“China pulled out 700 million of its population above the poverty line in 40 years,” he said adding it was their exports that made China a global economic power.

Dawlance hosted 2021 dealers convention at DPL2 Factory

Dawlance hosted the 2021 Dealers convention at DPL2 Factory here on Thursday, hosted by famous anchor person Mr. Shafaat. The event focused on communicating with the dealers as to how year 2021 has been a successful one. The event also acknowledged the role played by the dealers in making this year a success for Dawlance.

The Chief Executive Officer of Dawlance – Umar Ahsan Khan, addressed the participants in which he highlighted the company’s vision for the upcoming year. He talked about the strategies that would benefit dealers and help them achieve higher targets.

“It has been a while since we hosted our valued business partners in such a grand fashion. In the last two years, Covid-19 pandemic has created challenges for the business. Market closures, changing purchase patterns, drastic shifts in global economies and supply chain pressures all affected businesses globally, including Dawlance. However, we worked with immense agility and determination to avoid putting pressure on our partners and stood by all of you to ensure business continuity and profitability,” said Khan in his address.

The dealers were given a tour of the newly established Air Conditioners and washing machine line. The new AC line is capable of manufacturing the units locally. A separate showcase was designed to exhibit the range of products that Dawlance offers.

CEO Dawlance also highlighted the agenda of the company about the sustainability goals and how Dawlance aligns its operations with them.

“Arcelik global is aggressively working towards the betterment of the environment by setting science-based targets to reduce carbon emission and eventually the world temperature to 1.5 degrees by 2030. We, at Dawlance, are also a part of this initiative and adopting processes and making our products more and more environmentally sustainable as our future businesses and existence depend on it,” explained Mr Khan.

Dawlance aims to benefit the consumers via its products in 2022. This includes the New AC localisation project that will be the hallmark of its product excellence and cater to a broad demand from the market.

Mr Naeem Abbas Rufi ended the event with an entertaining concert, appreciated by all the participants.

3G/4G Users in Pakistan Reach 106.68 Million

The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan reached 106.68 million by the end of November 2021 as compared to 105.73 million by the end of October 2021, registering an increase of 0.95 million, according to the PTA data.

The number of cellular subscribers in Pakistan increased by 0.8 million to 188 million by the end of November 2021 as compared to 187.20 million by the end of October 2021. Teledensity for cellular mobile increased from 85.33 percent by the end of October to 85.65 percent by the end of November. The total teledensity increased from 86.47 percent by the end of October to 86.79 percent by the end of November.

Monthly Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) penetration stood at 48.60 percent by the end of November against 48.19 percent by the end of October 2021. Jazz’s total count for 3G users stood at 6.915 million by the end of November as compared to 7.049 million by the end of October 2021, registering a decrease of 0.134 million. The number of Jazz 4G users jumped from 34.275 million by the end of October to 34.527 million by the end of November.

Zong 3G subscribers decreased from 3.844 million by the end of October to 3.758 million by the end of November, while the number of 4G users jumped from 25.413 million by the end of October to 25.950 million by the end of November.

The number of 3G users of Telenor decreased from 4.356 million by the end of October to 4.217 million by the end of November. The number of 4G users jumped from 19.128 million by the end of October to 19.444 million by the end of November.

Ufone’s 3G users decreased from 4.063 million by the end of October to 3.960 million by the end of November. The number of its 4G users increased from 6.437 million by the end of October to 6.722 million by the end of November.