In commemoration of the National Incubators that recently announced the bid winners, a signing ceremony was held here in Islamabad.
The event was hosted by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, and was graced by State Minister for the same, Ms. Anusha Rahman. Chief Guest at the event was Mr. Ishaq Dar, Federal Finance Minister, who bore witness to the signings and congratulated the IT Minister and her team and project winners.
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CEO National ICT R&D Fund – Yusuf Hussain, while addressing the audience at the signing ceremony held here in Islamabad shared his roadmap for the fourth industrial wave. These initiatives being taken by the government is one way to ensure that research and development is being carried out in areas like robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT and the like.
The program for the first NIC, based in the capital city, started off earlier this year, with their first cohort nearing graduation already.
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The Karachi bid was won by TPL where Ali Jameel, CEO TPL Trakker, speaking to Ignite commented:
“The focus of TPL Trakker with NIC will be to provide selected start-ups physical infrastructure; business, technological, and commercialization support; cutting-edge research; networking and mentorship opportunities; and enabling their successful graduation for investment matchmaking.”
On behalf of LUMS, bid winner for Lahore, Vice Chancellor Dr. Sohail Naqvi signed the deal. Speaking to Ignite earlier, Khurram Zafar, Executive Director at LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship said:
“We strongly believe that National Incubation Centers will serve as breeding grounds for future knowledge-led enterprises of Pakistan that will not only create thousands of jobs and wealth creation opportunities for all stakeholders, but help the country in leapfrogging into the future through global competitiveness”
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Mr. Atif Rais Khan, CEO LMKT, who won the bid for Peshawar stated:
“The envisaged National Incubation Center in Peshawar will afford a conducive environment to enable and catalyze young entrepreneurs and start-ups in creating innovative, disruptive and sustainable solutions to tackle some of the most challenging problems faced by our society.”
The ceremony also included the signing for Broadband for Sustainable Development Projects for Balochistan. For more information, stay tuned to IDG!
Image source: Ignite/National ICT R&D Fund
