Pakistan has joined the league of some of the top countries of the world by providing a Certification from Home Platform for Microsoft Certifications for its students. An agreement was reached between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and Microsoft to provide this Certification free of cost to the first 2000 students who register for the opportunity. It’s a major step not only for bridging the gap between education and employability, but also for helping students acquire professional skills while they have more time during this Covid period. Microsoft and HEC have been working together in a strategic partnership over the last decade to promote the use of information technology in the Higher Education sector. The partnership covers all public and private sector universities in the country, with multiple programs aimed at upskilling theyouth and providing them with multiple platforms which can be used to help build up their capacity and showcase their technical potential at a global level. Under this strategic partnership,a certification platform has been launched to provide students with a prescribed curriculum roadmap, a kind of a blueprint for technology skill development and certification. Specific areas of study include Productivity, Computer Science, Data Science, and IT Infrastructure. The offered Certifications of MTA (Microsoft Technology Associate) and MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist)provide useful credentials for individuals seeking to validate their skills and advance their careers. The exams covered include all the productivity tools under Office 365, but also cover tech intensive certification paths, such as Cloud Fundamental courses covering Azure Fundamentals, Dynamics 365 Fundamentals and Microsoft 365 Fundamentals. Must Read: OPPO Takes Lead in Unveiling Innovative Technologies to the World Many students have found that they have more time at hand during the long COVID-19 break,which can give them the space to focus on developing marketable skills in addition to theoretical knowledge.To support such students, HEC plans to introduce the Certification from Home Platform initiative for students across Pakistan. Under this initiative, the first 2,000 students who register for a certification would get a free certification offer on their choice of available MOS or MTA offerings. The students can conveniently select the technology area of their choice and not only learn at home with in-depth tutorials and self-study videos but also take the Exam online from the comfort of their home. Commenting on the relationship between HEC & Microsoft, Chairman HEC Dr. Tariq Banuri said, ”Digital transformation has been at the forefront of every industry in the last few years, and education is no different. Working with Microsoft, HEC has been able to bring in a set of tools and technology offerings that can help establish a technology-rich culture in higher education. Enabling students to acquire more advanced skills not only helps them in their careers, it also strengthens the technical potential ofPakistani industry as well as academia.” Microsoft has partnered with Certiport – a Pearson VUE Business, to deliver this program for universities under HEC’s leadership. To ensure the best exam experience for the end user, without facing any lag or other downtime, Azure is the cloud platform of choice which is being used to host the IaaS resources to deliver this complete experience. The platform has been used to deliver more than 120,000 exams globally, with great reviews from teachers and students. Azure is also the cloud platform of choice for multiple universities across the country, being used for backup and disaster recovery strategies, to host Universities webservices, and as a driver for a Universities Cyber Security strategy using tools such as Azure Security Center and Sentinel, the Cloud-native SIEM of Microsoft. Country Education Lead Microsoft-Pakistan; Mr Jibran Jamshad shares that “today’s workplace requires adaptability to frequent technology changes and problem-solving strategies. The variety of skills you can learn in the Microsoft Certification Program allows you to display your flexibility to current and prospective employers. These credentials demonstrate that you can use a variety of strategies to solve problems and resolve the concerns of consumers as well as stakeholders more effectively”
Daraz: A marketplace driven by 20,000 sellers and 440 brands
More than 20,000 sellers from across the country and 440 leading national and international brands have helped fuel the growth of Daraz, the country’s leading online marketplace, over the years. By focusing on seller education and ensuring that brands remain committed to delivering a premium customer experience, Daraz has witnessed exceptional year-on-year growth, increased its catalogue to include 10 million products and curated an entertaining experience for customers. A marketplace driven by 20,000 sellers and 440 brands. A community of 20,000 active sellers is Daraz’ primary stakeholder and the platform has concentrated efforts towards empowering them through free-of-cost education. Every month, the platform provides education through Daraz University to more than 3,000 entrepreneurs looking to start their online ventures. New and existing sellers are offered extensive tutorials on product pricing, packaging and customer experience. Sellers are also educated regarding various policies that Daraz stringently implements to ensure customer protection. Further support is provided to sellers at 50 hubs, which have been launched in several major cities to help new sellers with product photography, product listings and order fulfillment till they receive their first 60 orders. Must Read: Infinix and CarlCare join hands with M&P to provide unmatched after-sale services 440 international and national brands have set up their official stores on DarazMall to offer customers authentic products and promise a 14 day return policy. Daraz ensures that brands are committed to delivering an engaging and innovative shopping experience to customers and, through features such as in-app gamification, it has become the sole online shoppertainment platform in the country. “We are focused on educating and empowering our sellers in order to ensure that customers have a safe experience on our platform. We are very proud of the growth we have witnessed and understand the responsibility that comes with it – we will continue to focus on our sellers, logistics and brand partners in order to constantly improve the experience we offer,” said Imran Saleem, Director Commercial Daraz Pakistan. Over the past year, Daraz has built 4 warehouses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and automated them to ensure that effective quality checks are conducted on all products before they are shipped to the customers. Customer satisfaction is paramount and Daraz implements a purchase protection policy to guarantee that buyers will be safeguarded from fraud whether they chose to pay digitally or with cash upon delivery. Daraz has also empowered its customers to make informed purchasing decisions by launching features such as Instant Message – through which buyers can communicate directly with sellers and have their queries resolved immediately – and Image Reviews – which allows customers to attach pictures of their products alongside written reviews. Daraz encourages customers to consider seller ratings and reviews and communicate with the sellers before placing an order on the platform. While Daraz is a marketplace driven by thousands of marketplace sellers and brands, the platform has developed robust logistics infrastructure, digitised its warehousing operations and implemented a number of policies that ensure that customers are protected and have an enjoyable shopping experience.
Momentum Pakistan-2018 brings Canadian’s soft visa regime for Pakistani tech startups
Momentum Pakistan-2018 brings Canadian’s soft visa regime for Pakistani tech startups. Pakistani startups and entrepreneurs will have tickets to the Toronto-Waterloo region, often referred to as the Silicon Valley North and home to thousands of tech startups and international companies, for better connectivity and penetration in the international market as the Canadian government is open to provide a 52-week work permit or a permanent resident to Pakistani tech startups. The representative of Accelerator Centre, based in the Canadian Silicon Valley, has unveiled the features of the visa programmefor the Pakistani tech startups and entrepreneurs to the Momentum Pakistan-2018. The mega event – Momentum Pakistan-2018 – is bringing digital world’s giants like Facebook, Amazon Web Services, IBM and Microsoft and several others to Karachi on February 19 and 20 where their representatives will mentor and support with tools and funds the Pakistani entrepreneurs and startups. Besides that, premier Pakistani and international companies will discuss sharing their APIs (Application Programming Interface) with other startups. When international tech companies are reaching out Pakistani startups, the Canadian government’s visa programme will help local startups to brand and build their business in the international market through its startups friendly visa regime. “The startups need not to relocate to Canada at all,” said Momentum Pakistan founder Amir Jafri, quoting Cam Wind, of the Accelerator Centre’s Visa Startup Visa Programme. Their representative is likely to attend the Momentum Pakistan-2018 event in Karachi to interact with and support the startups. Besides that, the centre will also interact with the Pakistani startups to address their concerns regarding the visa programme once a month through a video session on the Momentum Pakistan-2018 platform. Quoting Cam Wind, Amir Jafri said the Pakistani startups could keep their operations in Pakistan, while the visa would facilitate them to get benefit from the Canadian entrepreneurial friendly systems. Must Read: PIA Has Its Engines Revved To Deliver Wow-Factor To Its Customers Those granted visa can have access to all Canadian corporate programmes, mentors and other resources during the 52-week stay in Canada. Cam Wind explained about the preference in the visa grants: the startups with innovative technology-based initiatives, not services, and with a history of certain revenue generation, a strong founding team, a clear future vision and growth perspective. Amir Jafri said that startups could accelerate rapidly in collaboration with the international market and penetration in the Canadian market would be a big boost to the local startups. Since getting visa to the developed countries is a big task for the Pakistani entrepreneurs, the Canadian government’s offer could be a game changer, he said, adding that the presence of the Canadian Silicone Valley’s representatives would open new avenues for us. Global Social Entrepreneurship Foundation founder Muhammad Siddique said promoting the culture of entrepreneurship in Pakistan would creating the culture of “learning to fish for life” and for that Momentum Pakistan-2018 would be offering countless fishing techniques.
Human Protection under the law Watch urges China to avoid building the ‘Police Cloud’ data policing platform
A privileges group on 2o November asked the Chinese language government to avoid building big data policing systems to store private information of its human population, getting in touch with it a violation of personal privacy rights. The Human Protection under the law Watch’s affirmation said the authorities Cloud was made to track and anticipate the actions of activists, dissidents and cultural minorities, and will not adhere to international privacy expectations, reports Efe media. “It is terrifying that Chinese government bodies are collecting and centralising a lot more information about vast sums of common people, identifying people who deviate from what they determine to be ‘normal thought,’ and then surveilling them,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Individual Rights Watch. The Chinese authorities, in line with the HRW, has stored people’ information for a long time, and is currently exploring new systems to gather private information more efficiently, also to reveal it across departments at both nationwide and local levels. Read Full Story: Skardu Comes To Life With The New HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro Various applications used to analyse text messages, videos and security camera images instantly or near real-time are targeted at suppressing offences, however, the HRW said these procedures also allow authorities to arbitrarily obtain information about typical people. International privacy specifications require the collection, retention, and use of the non-public data of people for policing purposes be allowed only when there was an authentic hazard to a general population interest; the laws and regulations in China didn’t meet these requirements, said the HRW. “Preventing offense is the best condition interest, but predictive tools often indicate the same kind of patterns, so that it is likely for policing to reproduce old flaws or biases such as concentrating on of folks of lower socio-economic position. “This throws into uncertainty if the use of the predictive tools offers much new and if they are the necessary or proportionate intrusion on the privileges of people,” the HRW added. Reuters
