On 22nd of January 2019, a one hour long discussion was held between Federal Minister IT & Telecom Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddique and his team. The delegation was hosted by Innovation District 92, a startup incubator focused on flourishing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan.
The setting was that of a conference with the panelists Dr. Khalid Maqbool, IT & Telecom Federal Minister Nabeel A. Qadeer Co-Founder ID92 & CIO Superior Group, Dr. Sumaira Rehman Co-Founder ID92 & Rector Superior University, Umar Farooq CEO Tech Valley Abbottabad, and Dr. Shahab Imam Advisor to IT Minister leading the table.
The purpose of the Meetup was to listen to the problems, and difficulties faced by the tech industry without criticizing the government and effectively solving them. The attendees consisted of CEOs of well established companies and innovative startups just beginning their journey.
There were quite a few notable personalities present who shared their views in the meetup. The conference was opened by Umar Farooq explaining the purpose of the conference. Nabeel Qadeer, who was leading the conference, highlighted the importance of focusing on the suggestions to help improve the industry.
Imran, Din Industries, explained how we need to focus on innovative companies to take Pakistan forward. Alicia Dean, Founder ATX+PAK, a business development program to Austin, spoke about ATX being a gateway to the US through which the best and brightest startups of Pakistan will be highlighted in the US. Innovation District 92 is the official in country partner for ATX+PAK Advance program.
Umar Rana, CEO Alchemative, Badar Khushnood, Co-Founder Bramerz, and Haris Naseer, talked about the less exposure internationally due to various entry or visa problems.
Monis Rehman from Rozee.pk, S. M. Imran from Din Group, Suneel Munj from Pakwheels, Qaiser Ansari from Pantera Energy, , Hasnain Sheikh from Inov8, Umar Rana from Alchemative, Sana Mela from Perspective, Jamil Goheer from Kualitatem, Zafar Khan from Sofizar, Aqsa Tariq from IDG gave their various input on the matter at hand.
Nabeel Qadeer then ended the conference by thanking the IT Minister and his team for visiting Innovation District 92 and sparing precious time to listen to the queries of the industry.
A short background on Innovation District 92:
Innovation district 92 is an incubation space for startups from all verticals that are seeking guidance in converting their raw business ideas into effective and profitable businesses. ID92 gives them a physical office space for 6 months where they get an opportunity to network with a pool of mentors, investors, and facilitators, who in turn provide them with hands-on support in developing, branding, and marketing their products / services.