The UNESCO Regional Office for East Africa has partnered with Huawei Technologies (Kenya) Co., LTD to train faculty members from universities and colleges that are in the early stages of career and eager to formulate and integrate AI into their teaching course as part of their courses in countries in the East Africa region. Developing countries in East Africa will be able to reap the rewards of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and overcome the skills shortage that hinders their national innovation systems. Through this initiative, new out-of-the-box education and training techniques that value interdisciplinary skills and creative thinking, in order to produce a technically savvy and innovative workforce, have been developed in countries of ‘East Africa. They will also adopt what they have learned from this training in their curriculum to bring more young workers into new technologies. Similar Program is launched by Huawei for Pakistan in which Many University graduate took benefit out of it. Must Read: Powerhouse duo – Syra Yousuf and Asim Azhar revealed as OPPO F17 Pro’s product ambassadors UNESCO Regional Office for East Africa and Huawei announced their collaboration to improve digital skills and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) at the HUAWEI CONNECT summit in Shanghai, China in 2019 Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for East Africa announced the partnership during her speech at the Summit. She stressed the importance of building digital skills in Africa and the tremendous opportunities offered by technology to improve the quality and accessibility of education: “I commend Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative for focusing on technology in benefit people and launch this initiative to ensure that no one is left behind, especially those in the most remote areas. UNESCO East Africa is delighted to work with Huawei on this initiative. The current training program is the second in the series with the Huawei ICT Academy program under this cooperation agreement. This training program is a one-week program with introduction to Python programming; Foundation of deep learning; image and speech recognition programming with human-machine dialogue programming. The morning sessions are devoted to theoretical sessions and those in the afternoon to online experiments. At the end of the training, there was an online certification exam, where successful trainees received Huawei HCIA-AI certification to become certified AI professionals.
UNESCO and Beaconhouse National University Partnership on Pakistan’s Creative Future
Beaconhouse National University (BNU) is set to commence its first ever five-day Start-up and Accelerator creative business training programmes from October 27, 2019. The programmes are being offered under the Pakistan’s Creative Future project in partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with support from the Korea Funds-In-Trust (K-Fit). The programmes will be held at BNU’s Tarogil Campus, Raiwind Road, Lahore. Within the framework of the “Strengthening regional and national capacities to develop cultural and creative industries in Asia and Pacific” project, UNESCO is seeking to empower creative entrepreneurs in Pakistan and to raise awareness of the importance of the cultural and creative industries for sustainable development. The motivation behind the programmes is to inspire and cultivate entrepreneurial potential in the Cultural and Creative Industries including Cinema/Audiovisual arts, Design, Media art, Music, Performing arts, Publishing, Visual arts, Cultural management and Digital cultural, and creative sectors. Must Read: Startup Grind Pakistan Conference 2019: Tech Innovation is the Future of Pakistan The open call to apply for the programmes was made through an online application form floated over social media in the last week of August, 2019. The deadline date was set for September 30, 2019. The call received a very encouraging response and was accessed about 2,000 times which resulted in 240 applications for 12 slots on the programmes. Of these, 135 made to the longlist of applications from across all provinces of Pakistan and the Federal Capital, Islamabad. By gender, 34.1% applicants were female versus 65.2% male and 0.7% transgender applicants. The received applications for the programme not only featured applicants from the more urbanized cities but from far flung districts including Kech, Nushki and Sherani in Balochistan, Bannu, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Hangu, Lakki Marwat and Malakand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalnagar, Bhakkar, Khushab, Layyah, Rajanpur and Toba Tek Singh in Punjab, Sanghar, Sukkur and Umerkot in Sindh besides Skardu, Gilgit and Hunza in Gilgit Baltistan In terms of sectors within the Cultural and Creative Industries, the applicants’ profiles on the longlist represented Cinema/Audio-Visual (14.8%), Cultural Management (14.8%), Design (31.1%), Digital Culture & Creative (14.8%), Media Arts (3.0%), Music (5.9%), Performing Arts (3.0%), Publishing (5.9%), and Visual Arts (6.7%). The programme design is the outcome of a close collaboration and intensive deliberation between BNU, UNESCO and K-Fit teams and experts spanning many months. It is a fully-sponsored, action-packed, in-residence training package tailored to the needs of Pakistani creative businesses. The training methodology employs an indigenous case-study based approach offered at both early-stage and intermediate-stage start-up levels, delivered by national and international experts.
Azerbaijan invites Pakistan to ‘Take another look’
With an aim to attract more visitors from Pakistan and South Asia, Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) is participating in the 2019 Pakistan Travel Martin Karachi, taking place from October 8-10. “We are delighted to introduce our country and the “Take another look” campaign in Pakistan through Pakistan Travel Mart. South Asia is a key region for us and we look forward to welcoming its travellers and sharing Azerbaijan’s tourism, leisure and business events potential. We are excited to strengthen our ties with Pakistan and enhance our tourism proposition in the industry, as we aim to provide Pakistani tourists with unique, authentic experiences that will leave a lasting impression,” said Florian Sengstschmid, Chief Executive Officer of Azerbaijan Tourism Board. The Caucasus country is currently on the cusp of a tourism boom as it welcomed a record number of in-bound visitors spending more than USD 2 billion in 2018, making it one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. Azerbaijan welcomed 41 268 Pakistani travellers in 2018. In January- August of 2019 Azerbaijan has already received 28 576 Pakistani citizens, which is 12.9 % increase in comparison to the same period of the last year. Must Read: SAMSUNG launches Galaxy A30s & A10s in their powerful A Series in Pakistan An Eastern country with a Western outlook, Azerbaijan is an exceptional combination of antiquity and novelty with several sites of interest. Supported by a rich history that dates back 5,000 years, and home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, its composite culture has evolved with the passing through of travellers along the Great Silk Road. Among the country’s top attractions is the ancient Ashabi-Kahf. Mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, it attracts thousands of tourists from the Middle East and South Asia to the western territory of Azerbaijan. The natural cave between the mountains of Ilandag sees tens of thousands of pilgrimages to the sacred location each year. Another popular attraction is the iconic UNESCO site of the ancient Ateshgah, a Fire Temple which continues to amaze visitors with its spouts of flame. Azerbaijan welcomes travellers all throughout the year to enjoy an array of activities during thefour seasons. Home to 9 distinct climatic zones, the landscape has attractive weather and almost every kind of geography one could think of. From lush or snowy mountains, beaches, forests, and everything in-between, its natural terrains welcome tourists looking for the diverse scenic beauty and the best landscapes for adventure. Blessed with variety of rich mineral deposits, the country is fast becoming a preferred destination for health and wellness offering world-class spas, traditional hammams and mud baths. The country’s unique geography and location have resulted in a cuisine influenced by the land’s natural ingredients. With a mix of varied local cuisine and tastes from the Middle East, Turkey, Europe and Asia, there is a variety of the best food places and experiences. With a majority Muslim population, tourists can expect halal culinary options. A budget-friendly holiday destination closer than Europe, Baku offers the best places to do shopping. The malls of Baku have low price offers and luxury brands. For those seeking a genuine local experience will enjoy the traditional bazaars. As well as traditional entertainments, Baku has a thriving jazz community, and DJs from around the world contribute to the lively nightlife. With high-profile sporting events such as the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and UEFA Europa League Final in 2019, and annual food and music festivals; varied hospitality offerings that range from luxury collections to B&Bs; a vibrant gastronomical experience; spectacular landscapes including summer countryside and winter ski slopes; Azerbaijan is an ideal and a safe family-oriented destination with a constantly evolving tapestry of life and energy. “With a direct flight in the foreseeable future, we encourage Pakistani travellers to ‘Take Another Look’ and discover all the possibilities and unique offering awaiting in Azerbaijan. Pakistani visitors can enjoy an easy visa policy with the newly implemented ASAN visa system. Citizens can obtain an e-visa in 3 simple steps from the convenience of their home or mobile devices,” added Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of Azerbaijan Tourism Board. Currently, various transit air routes are available on connection of Pakistan with Azerbaijan including: Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Gulf Air and Air Arabia.
Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education Leads Futures Training in Pakistan
Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE) along with AGAHI, the country partner of the Millennium-Project, a Global Futures Studies & Research participatory think-tank conducted a two-day leadership session on Futures Thinking and Strategy Development; the working sessions were designed and delivered by Professor Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair of Futures Studies. Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education organized one of the first of its kind futures sessions in Pakistan focused on Karachi Futures’. Inviting leaders from business, politics, media, civil society and academia. Rabia Dadabhoy, Vice Chairman for the Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE) said, “we are proud to mark that DIHE is taking a lead on Futures Research in Pakistan, we are confident that this will create research avenues for the foresight techniques and research thinking. This is the right platform that creates multiple opportunities for collaboration and co-creation; doing this with AGAHI in partnership on Pakistan Foresight Initiative; Karachi Futures is a step in that direction”. The objectives of the designed sessions were to explore future methodologies which could help alleviate the multitude issues the city faces. The participants were engaged in various futures methods and were asked to apply them on the city, these included the futures triangle, causal layered analysis, macro and micro scenarios, visioning and back-casting. The sessions were designed to help the participants understand and develop a familiarity with methods used to develop preferred, probable and possible futures; particularly changes in societal values and other critical drivers – impacting the future and to help enhance the effectiveness to deliver desired visions. Puruesh Chaudhary Founder and President AGAHI, said “the recently launched, Pakistan State of Future Index, gives a sense of how decisions in the country need to be made; Karachi being the financial hub needs a new metaphor and working with DiHE; we feel that this is the platform which can create the momentum where citizenry participation is at the heart of all decision-making in the city. Professor Sohail Inaya ullah, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair of Futures Studies stated “Karachi can play a pivotal role in the future of cityscape by forming an alliance of Asian megacities that will collectively look towards solving the pressing issues they face within, helping grow Pakistan’s value regionally and internationally whilst transforming Karachi as the ‘Emerald of the World’”. The sessions were attended byjournalists, AfshanSubhoi, Mubashir Zaidi, Sohaib Jamali, Syed Naeemuddin; Academicians Dr. AadilNakhoda, Dr. Saad Ahmed Khan, Dr. Arsalan Khan, Dr Saad Liaquat, Entreprenuers Abid Butt, Roger Dawood Bayat, Amir Jahangir whilecivil society was represented by Syed FaizanYasir, Salman Javed, Lt-General (Retd.) Farooq Agha, Shazia Ismat Zaidi, Habib Ullah Dadabhoy amongst others Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE) was established in the year 2003. It received Charter as Degree Awarding Institute by the Government of Sindh, through an act of the Parliament. In 2005, DIHE was recognized by the Higher Education Commission and placed in top grade i.e. W ’A’ category institutes. The DIHE mission is to facilitate growth and prosperity amongst all sections of our society. DIHE offers various undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs in Business Administration, Computer Science, Engineering, Basic & Applied Sciences, and Law. At DIHE, no student is denied admission due to financial need. Since the day of its inception, DIHE has been regularly awarding merit scholarships and need-based financial help to students irrespective of their religion, gender, caste or creed. The ultimate objective is to provide quality education at affordable cost.
