On the sidelines of this week’s Milipol Qatar summit, the President of Huawei Middle East reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting digital transformation across the Middle East by building stronger ICT ecosystems supported by cooperative cybersecurity mitigation programs. This ecosystem will ultimately contribute to the realization of national development visions over the coming years. When it comes to 5G in particular, Huawei has noted that the GCC countries have been among the world’s first wave of 5G deployments, now becoming a reference point for global commercial use. These investments will demonstrate their value once again during mega-events like the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Hajj season and similar eventsenabling brand-new experiences such as 8K live broadcasts and exciting in-home viewer experiences through augmented and virtual reality. “The use cases of 5G are almost unlimited in terms of healthcare, education, entertainment, transportation, energy, and more,” said Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East. “Nonetheless, with the rapid development of 5G together with AI and cloud industries, countries in the region arerightfully attaching great importance to data sovereignty and cybersecurity. Huawei is committed to cooperative cybersecurity mitigation programs while never putting commercial interests ahead of cybersecurity policies. I reiterate that Huawei welcomes signing cyber security agreement with governments to ensure openness, transparency, and trust.” Must Read: realme set to launch Narzo 30A with MediaTek Helio G85 processor Over recent days, Huawei has been working closely with other global manufacturers, security and safety experts, governments, and enterprises at Milipol to help establish a more secure digital ecosystem in the region.Building and fully implementing an end-to-end global cybersecurity assurance and privacy protection system is one of Huawei’s most crucial strategies for the region, according to Yang. In 2020 alone, Huawei supported the stable operations of over 300 networks internationally, and helped operators to provide online services and minimize the impact of the pandemic on their business. Huawei has also signed more than 1,000 contracts for industrial 5G applications in more than 20 industries, demonstrating the trust that governments and its customers have in Huawei. “Our responsibility has always been to make secure, trustworthy, and high-quality products,” noted Yang. “Huawei has not had any major cybersecurity incidents while working with more than 500 telecom providers for nearly 20 years in 170 countries. No other vendor can claim this level of cybersecurity success.” In parallel with its cybersecurity emphasis, Huawei is doubling down on its research efforts in the region and internationally. The company is already one of the largest patent holders in the world. In 2020, Huawei was the top filer of patents for the fourth consecutive year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The company has also been leading in areas like 5G patents for some time, and has in turn been featured on rankings such as the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard in 2020. “In the post-pandemic era, local governments and enterprises are all actively pushing for industrial digitalization, upgrading smart systems and solutions to enhance the level of public services,” said Yang.“As a consequence, they are looking at enhanced cybersecurity and privacy frameworks to guide how that transformation can happen. New policies, organizational structures, and processes will need to be determined, and will ultimately nurture a vibrant ecosystem that promotes innovation in the Middle East.” That future will also require bolstering local ICT talent, added Yang. Huawei’s talent ecosystem currently consists of four parts: a Seeds for the Future program, the Huawei ICT Competitions, an internship program, and various ICT Academies. Yang also cited how in 2020, the LearnOn online learning platform was launched in the Middle East. Over the last five years, this talent ecosystem has included work with 440 universities in the region, more than 20 ministries and commissions, with more than 35,000 people being trained and over 9,000 being certified by Huawei in areas like 5G, AI, and cloud. Yang stressed that the company will continue to work with local universities, partners, governments, and enterprise customers to cultivate more qualified ICT talent. “With powerful technologies, a local talent ecosystem, and well-established cybersecurity frameworks, we are confident that advanced digital applications across all industries can become more widespread in the region,” concluded Yang. Huawei’s cybersecurity practices have already gained the trust of global value chain partners and industry-leading organizations. To date, more than 700 cities and 228 Fortune 500 companies—among which 58 are from the Fortune 100—have selected Huawei as a digital transformation partner.
Pakistani IT Experts Explore Potential Of 5G Network in SEMENA Leadership Summit
Telecommunications leaders and experts from Pakistan and across the world recently virtually attended the SAMENA Telecommunications Council Leaders’ Summit to review plans for unleashing the potential of 5G networks to boost economies and societies in a post COVID-19 environment. The Summit was hosted by Huawei for the seventh consecutive year. Pakistani IT Experts Explore Potential Of 5G Network in SEMENA Leadership Summit. Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Federal Secretary of IT and Telecommunication; Maj. Gen. Amir Azeem Bajwa, Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority; Tania Aidrus, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Digital Pakistan, Mark Meng, CEO of Huawei Pakistan were all in attendance for this year’s SAMENA Telecommunications Council Leaders’ Summit. Mark Meng, CEO of Huawei Pakistan committed that “Huawei will support the government’s Digital Pakistan initiative to move toward a diversified, knowledge-based economy with the latest technologies like 5G, AI, and Internet Of Things and unlock new venues of growth and innovation.” The theme of the Summit was “5G+X: Harnessing 5G Across Industries for Investment Revival,” which shed light on how technology and ICT infrastructure play an increasingly important role in our societies, and therefore our economies. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need to strengthen digital infrastructure to better prepare societies for future crises and to make systems more resilient and sustainable, guaranteeing a better and more effective outcome. Must Read: Telenor Pakistan offers subsidized internet bundle to enable DigiSkill trainees in their learning journey Mr. Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Federal Secretary of IT and Telecommunication elaborated on this by saying, “Crisis presents both danger, and opportunity. Let’s focus on all the opportunities in the current pandemic and develop the ICT sector as the true key technology enabler for digital harmony, connectivity and cooperation among all sectors of society.” Mr. Bocar A. BA , CEO of SAMENA Telecommunications Council also shared his opinions and stated that we are “increasingly witnessing progressiveness across Pakistan’s ICT policy and regulatory landscape” and he deemed it “necessary for 5G preparations to be accelerated in the country” in the hopes of achieving “digital inclusion” at all levels of society. The Summit also explored how ICT stakeholders can work together with industry verticals to turn their vision into reality at the local and regional level. Participants reviewed 5G ecosystem cooperation in the Middle East and Pakistan, and how 5G paired with complementary technologies such as cloud, AI and can create new industry applications. Better integration of AI into the public health response was also spotlighted. Maj. Gen. Amir Azeem Bajwa, Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, said that “I believe that readiness of our telecom infrastructure will be sufficient to support 5G networks and services across the country.”
Telenor reveals 20 Technology Trends that will shape 2020
Bjørn Taale Sandberg, Head of Telenor Research, revealed during his latest visit to Pakistan, the 20 technology trends that will shape the year 2020. Like the previous year, this year’s technology trends, as projected by Telenor Group’s research arm, will take a prominent lead in developing the global digital ecosystem supported by cellular service providers, device makers, and internet companies. The Technology Trends 2020 were revealed and discussed during an interactive session at Telenor Pakistan Headquarters 345. According to Telenor Research, real green innovations will eventually go beyond the hype by combining Big Data, AI (Artificial Intelligence) tech, and IoT(Internet of Things) to significantly contribute towards protecting the environment. So far, there has been more of an industrial use of IoT than public and in 2020, the technology will get closer to people to become ‘Internet of Bodies’ with connected health, medical, and communications devices attached to human bodies. While 2019 was the year of 5G testing, another tech trend projects 2020 to be the year of widespread 5G launches; the combination of 5G, IoT, and AI will also spur industry collaborations that share competence and co-create world-changing platforms. “Many of the trends we spotlight for next year show innovation charging ahead faster than ever, enabled by more access and more demand, as well as by revolutionary new tech platforms and socio-political forces,” says Bjørn Taale Sandberg, Head of Telenor Research. “At the same time,other trends suggest we are having a common technological epiphany, a kind of digital realisation. People are waking up and examining how and where technologies, including AI, Machine Learning, IoT, and new network innovations will best and most securely connect them with the people and things that matter most.” Must Read: TCL joins hands with Peshawar Zalmi for PSL 2020 With more people waking up to the fact that companies make their money from user data by using it to sell tailored advertisements, 2020 will be a year where people start to become more cautious about sharing their personal information on digital platforms. Sardar Mohammad Abubakr, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer Telenor Pakistan, shared how there would be an increase in competition to earn customer trust related to data they share on digital platforms and also commented on other tech trends including better entertainment content by the streaming giants, more and more global players increasing competition in the mobile/console gaming space, and increasing debate around ethical AI & regulation of big tech companies. “The increased access and demand of technological solutions are helping these trends take shape and drive development of the digital ecosystem faster than ever before,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan and Head of Emerging Asia Cluster Telenor Group. “In this age of digitisation, we anticipate how the technologies and trends will impact people and we aim to connect them to solutions that matter the most to them. Telenor Pakistan’s capability to provide innovative solutions and the identification of these trends enables us to stay ahead of the game and increase our speed to market.” Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General Amir Azeem Bajwa (R), also spoke on the occasion. While delivering his closing remarks, Chairman PTA said, “PTA is playing pivotal role in the growth and development of telecom sector in Pakistan.” He stated that “PTA is facilitating in the provision of high quality and latest ICT services to the consumers. Technology trends forecasted by Telenor are becoming more and more pertinent and relevant to Pakistan and he thanked Telenor Pakistan for charting out the expected technological advancements for long term development of the country.” Telenor Research is Telenor Group’s corporate unit for scientific research which plays a key role in providing insight and competence that enable Telenor to become a software and data-driven company.
Lawyers delegation calls on Anusha Rehman
Lawyers delegation calls on Anusha Rehman. A delegation of High Court Bar, Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench headed by Mr Hassan Raza Pasha, General Secretary Ms Hifza Bukhari called on Anusha Rehman Minister for IT & Telecom here at Islamabad today (Thursday ) Other newly elected office bearers of the High Court Bar Association were also part of the delegation . Congratulating newly-elected office-bearers, Anusha Rehman said that lawyers have an important role in the justice system and provision of justice to a common man on daily basis. And I always feel proud to be a part of the legal fraternity. The delegates expressed their gratitude to the worthy Minister for sparing time for the meeting. Must Read: Nissan To Begin Datsun Production In Pakistan Anusha Rehman shared some key initiatives of her ministry for development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the country. She said that our government got national and international recognition and three international awards were conferred upon us on highly transparent spectrum auctions, Telecom policy and global achiever awards on “ICT for Girls” program. We established 150 state of the art computer labs in women empowerment Centers across the country where girls from marginalized sections of the society, are learning latest techniques of coding and cloud computing through Microsoft . We are establishing latest computer labs in 226 girls schools of Islamabad Capital Territory. Besides this we are focusing on under served /un-served areas to provide 3G connectivity through out the country including Balochistan and FATA where even landline connectivity was not available. The delegates appreciated Minister’s initiative in the arena of ICT and asked the Minister to initiate an ICT training program for young lawyers which the latter acceded instantly and directed the concerned authorities. Ameena Sohail Member Legal MoIT and Nasir Ayyaz Director legal, MoIT and other senior officials from Ministry were also present in the meeting.
PTCL partners with Virtual University for Ignite’s DigiSkills Initiative
PTCL partners with Virtual University for Ignite’s DigiSkills Initiative. Ignite, Ministry of IT & Telecom has launched DigiSkills program to impart training of one million workforce comprising of youth, skilled professionals and freelancers. Ignite has awarded DigiSkills training project to Virtual University of Pakistan and PTCL has been selected as partner for this strategic project. DigiSkills program will impart training to one million knowledge resources like youth, freelancers, students, and professionals, who would deliver professionally across the globe and contribute in country’s economic growth. The program aims at, not only developing key specialized skills, but also imparting knowledge about various freelancing and other employment & entrepreneurial opportunities available internationally and locally. Due to limited employment opportunities, it is essential for upcoming workforce to have necessary knowledge and abilities to seize such opportunities to become influential participants in global competitive market for capturing international opportunities across multiple industry segments. Dr Naveed Malik, Rector, Virtual University of Pakistan and Adil Rashid, Chief Digital Services Officer, PTCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the PM House today. Dr Naveed Malik, Rector, Virtual University of Pakistan and Adil Rashid, Chief Digital Services Officer, PTCL signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the PM Secretariat today. Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for IT & Telecom, Ms. Anusha Rahman, President & CEO PTCL Dr. Daniel Ritz and CEO Ignite Mr. Yusuf Hussain also graced the occasion. Must Read: OPPO Strengthens Its Position By Sponsoring HBL Pakistan Super League 2018 As The Official Smartphone Partner Appreciating and encouraging the initiative, the honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the occasion said, “The government is committed to bring economic growth and development of Pakistan, I congratulate Virtual University and thank PTCL for collaborating with VU for this Digital Skills Training Programme under the auspices of our government which would train 1 million people of this country all over the world under the umbrella of ‘On Demand Economy’. This initiative, would not only create employment opportunities, but also provide the nation to contribute for the vision of prosperous Pakistan”. Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Ms. Anusha Rahman, while expressing her satisfaction with this significant initiative, congratulated ministry of IT, Ignite, VU and PTCL for partnering on this major initiative of Ministry that will provide online training to 1 Million youth enabling them to earn using technology by accessing online market places. She further hoped that after successful implementation of this programme, Pakistan will be able to achieve number 1 position in global freelancing domain. President and CEO PTCL Dr. Daniel Ritz shared his views on this accomplishment and said. “PTCL always strives hard to contribute and bring Pakistan at par with rest of the world by launching innovative and enterprising initiatives. Taking another step forward, PTCL has joined hands with Virtual University to train 1 million Pakistanis across the world through its broadband footprint and cloud infrastructure (IAAS) representing all walks of life.” The key development areas of training include sharing respective strengths, experiences and methodologies for skill development aimed at promoting quality and competitiveness in educational & training sectors of Pakistan and working together on diverse projects of mutual interest to facilitate human resource development initiatives which focus on economic development of the country, especially in implementing innovative projects of mutual interest in the fields of ICT
PTCL envisions Pakistan’s digital transformation through Power of Public Cloud
PTCL envisions Pakistan’s digital transformation through Power of Public Cloud. PTCL held a seminar on “The Power of Public Cloud” at a local hotel in Karachi, which was largely attended by CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT professionals from business and corporate sector. Dr. Daniel Ritz, President & CEO, PTCL was the keynote speaker on the occasion. Speaking on ‘The role of PTCL in the Digital Transformation of Pakistan’ Dr. Daniel Ritz stressed upon the urgency to bring state-of-the-art technologies and solutions for digital transformation of the country. He added that PTCL’s Cloud Infrastructure would fulfill the vision of leading the country into a new era of digitization. Ghazanfar Ali, Country General Manager, IBM Pakistan & Afghanistan, also spoke on the occasion on PTCL and IBM cloud partnership and bringing the country at par with global competition. Must Read: Nokia 8: Three Firsts In One Precision Designed Flagship PTCL’s General Manager for Digital Services, heading the PTCL Smart Cloud segment, Nabeel Amjad gave an introduction of PTCL Smart Cloud Infrastructure capabilities and its service offering. Gustavo Alvarez, GTS Service Line Leader, IBM Middle East and Africa talked about the importance of Cloud in today’s digital age. Kamran Ahsan, Senior Director, Digital Security Solutions, Etisalat, emphasized on the importance of Digital Security in the growing world of digitalization. Public Cloud Infrastructure, Platform and Software services is an area that has exponentially grown globally over the last few years as it provides access to IT Data Center infrastructure and services at significantly lower capital and operational expenses. PTCL has been at the forefront for introducing ICT related services in Pakistan and decided to implement a local Cloud Infrastructure in 2017 as part of its continued commitment to technology and innovation. PTCL, leveraging its strong position and vast experience in Data Center hosting services, having state of the art Tier-3 Certified Data Centers and provider of high-speed connectivity solutions, launched cloud services with innovative offerings using enterprise grade platforms. PTCL has collaborated with IBM as the lead partner and system integrator for deployment of its cloud infrastructure. PTCL launched Smart Cloud in 2017 and over a short span, has built a satisfied clientele that has transformed and powered up their growth with PTCL Cloud services.
Interior Minister chairs the closing ceremony of Huawei’s 2nd ICT Skills contest
The Closing Ceremony of the 2nd ICT Skills Competition, organized by HUAWEI Pakistan in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), was held on Thursday, 7th December, 2017, at the HEC Auditorium in Islamabad. Federal Minister for Interior – Mr. Ahsan Iqbal was the Guest of Honor at the colorful closing ceremony of this comprehensive contest. The Interior Minister was accompanied by other distinguished guests such as; the ambassador of china for Pakistan-Mr. Yao jing; the Chairman of HEC – Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed; the Vice President of Huawei – Mr. XUE MAN, along with others. The event featured the performance-evaluation of all the contestants, whereby, prizes were distributed among the top 50 students. Also the top 6 students, who have also qualified to go abroad and compete in the International Final that will soon be held in Shenzhen, China will be given exciting prizes; including: mobile phones, Huawei certification, vouchers and a fully paid tour of Huawei Headquarters in China. At the occasion, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the government is not only building motorways but initiating digital empowerment of young talent of Pakistan by nurturing highly specialize ICT talent in Pakistan with the help and collaboration of Huawei technologies. The global technology leader – Huawei began this informative competition on the 15th of August 2017, which featured the skill-sets and intelligence of students from more than 22 Universities belonging to Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and KPK. There were more than 7000 students who participated in the rounds, held at Huawei’s 14 specialized HAINA labs. Must Read: Samsung Gives Honda Civic To Winner Of Prize Offer On J-Series Mobile Phones At the end of the National Final, the top 6 out of 50 participants were selected. The best of these contestants belonged to prestigious institutions like; UET Lahore, NUST Islamabad, Lahore Garrison University and Virtual University. On this vibrant occasion, the Vice President of Huawei stated that: “As Huawei is at the forefront of technologies around the world, we are also nurturing a culture of technological skills and expertise in Pakistan, this competition focused on enriching and optimizing the talents of students in Pakistan’s universities”. He also congratulates the winning students of ICT competition and said Huawei committed to promote an open Eco system to develop ICT talent in Pakistan. Over the years, this competition has emerged as a resourceful platform for the students, who strive to excel and gain expertise in the relevant fields. The qualifying students will not only receive national recognition, but they will also get an opportunity to demonstrate their ICT skills on an international forum. This contest will also nurture higher standards of performance in Pakistan’s ICT sector.
Swedish Ambassador called on Anusha Rehman
Swedish Ambassador Ms. Ingrid Johnson called on Minister of state for IT & Telecom Mrs Anusha Rehman here at Islamabad today. Various issues of mutual interest and promotion of bilateral cooperation in the arena of ICT and innovation were discussed in the meeting. Minister apprised the ambassador regarding key initiatives being taken by the Ministry of IT for ubiquitous sectoral development. She stated that we have laid down a telecommunication highway and and enterprenuership ecosystem and are continuously working to widen it throughout the country. Anusha Rehman said that we believe, ICT is the lever of economic progress and we are using this lever to empower all classes of citizens and particularly women and girls from the marginalized sections of society. Therefore, we have established around 150 state of the art computer labs including the Baitulmal Women Empowerment Centers where Microsoft is imparting latest technical training of coding and computing to empower the girls of marginalized background by equipping them with modern IT knowledge . Moreover we are establishing state of the art computer labs together with Microsoft training at 226 girls schools in Islamabad Capital territory and this project will improve the lives of more than 100,000 young girls by equipping them with ICT skills. Through this initiative we aim to help girls student by making them computer literate. Read Full Story: Anusha Chaired 55th Board Of Directors Meeting Of Ignite – National Technology Fund Minister further said that we have recently approved a “Digiskill” program to train one million freelancers through Ignite platform and Sweden can collaborate with Pakistan in terms of training start ups and SMEs and we can learn from the experiences of each other which will be mutually beneficial for both the countries. The Swedish Ambassador , while appreciating the forward looking steps being taken by the government of Pakistan and Ministry of IT for the development of IT& Telecom sector, assured her utmost cooperation for enhancing bilateral engagement in IT & Telecom spheres.
10th TeleCON 2017 forum chaired by the Minister of Telecom
The Minister of State for Information Technology & Telecommunications – Honorable Ms. Anusha Rahman Khan inaugurated the 10th Pakistan Telecommunication, ICT & Telecom Conference (TeleCON 2017) as the Chief Guest. This annual forum was held by SHAMROCK Conferences International (www.shamrockconferences.net) at the Ramada Hotel in Islamabad, with the theme: “Pakistan in the wake of Revolutionary Technologies and Solutions”. The Keynote address was delivered by the Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) – Syed Ismail Shah. Addressing the large number of enthusiastic delegates at the forum, the Minister of IT and Telecom stated that: “It is delightful to see that global Telecom & IT giants are undertaking major ventures in Pakistan, while our country’s start-up enterprises are winning great accolades at global technology forums, with the support of incubators and incentives from the government”. She further stated that: “The Next-generation 3G and 4G telecom technologies are already empowering all consumer segments and industries, as we benefit from revolutionary concepts like; ‘Mobile” commerce, E-Governance, Smart-Cities, Mobile-banking, Cloud-Computing, ‘Smart’ Healthcare & Education and much more. The government is now seeking the earliest possible deployment of 5G technology in Pakistan. With the successful orchestration of this 10th annual TeleCON Forum, SHAMROCK has made great contributions in the advancement of this important industry in Pakistan.” Syed Ismail Shah, Chairman of PTA said: “A social and industrial revolution has taken place in our country with the deployment of fascinating new technologies. It is now the primary responsibility of the regulators and experts of telecom and IT industries, to focus on the future, enabling swift and secured consumption of massive volumes of data, whereby we can greatly enhance national productivity to accelerate progress and economic prosperity”. Other distinguished Chairpersons and speakers included; The Chief Executive Officer of PTCL – Daniel Ritz, CEO of ICT R&D Fund – Mr. Yusuf Hussain, the CEO of IBM Cloud – Nadeem A. Malik, the CEO of Bluetech Consulting – Kashif Jadoon, Mr. Pervez Iftikhar, Ex CEO USF, the Head of Conferences at SHAMROCK – Mr. Usman Janjua and others. These learned speakers discussed critical topics like; Expansion of outreach, Fibre-Optics, rural-area connectivity, broadband, wireless-access, connectivity and Cyber-security. An insightful panel discussion on ‘Revolutionary Technologies’ included experts like: the Chief Commercial Officer of PTCL – Adnan Shahid, the CEO of COMSATS – Jamshed Masood and Mr. Naveed Khalid Butt, Chief Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Ufone. Numerous other experts professionals and stakeholders attended this forum, sponsored by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) and Wateen Telecom, while being supported by PTA, relevant ministries and the leading enterprises of this robust industry. TeleCON is a prestigious assembly of the; industry specialists, regulators, technologists, speakers, visionaries, experts, academia, emerging media and investors from national and global enterprises and institutions. The key topics of discussion included: challenges & opportunities, fresh ideas for enhancing Foreign-Direct Investments, regulations to control cybercrime, Data Security & safer exchange of information.