Out of 597 applicants three Pakistani startups win £668,000 GSMA grant

According to a DAWN report the GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion has announced three Pakistani startups as winners. These winners were announced out of the 597 applications received from 44 countries. The winning Pakistani startups are Vceela, Knowledge Platform and Orenda Pakistan. These startups will receive a total grant of £668,000 (Rs146 million).

GSMA Head of Asia Pacific Julian Gorman addressed the occasion virtually. He said that digital technologies are set to transform the way people live and work in Pakistan.

By 2023, the economic contribution of the mobile industry in Pakistan is expected to reach $24 billion. This will account for 6.6 per cent of GDP, he added. In an effort to stimulate this growth, Pakistan has recently moved forward with significant mobile services tax reforms.

“As we saw in the GSMA 2020 Digital Societies Report, which tracks the progress of 11 focus countries in Asia Pacific, Pakistan is advancing its societal, economic and digital ambition, as outlined in Digital Pakistan Vision,”

Mr Gorman

The GSMA report on digital society index has tracked Pakistan in achieving one of the highest increases in its overall score.

Remarks from IT & Telecom Minister

Federal Minister for IT Syed Aminul Haq said the “Right of Way Policy” has been implemented by the government, which was one of the demands of the telephony and internet service providers for the last 24 years.

Mr Haque added that steps were being taken to provide 3G and 4G services across the country. Corona pandemic has changed the economic and social map of the world. Now the priorities have changed in many areas. But information technology and telecommunication is a sector whose formula has not changed. In fact its use and the trend has increased tremendously.

The IT minister said that it is a matter of pride for us that not only national but also international organisations are acknowledging the projects of the Ministry of IT and telecommunication.

He said that:

The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Pakistan among the best countries in terms of the affordability of ICT services.

Pakistan is ranked 4th in the Global Freelance industry, providing excellent technical resources in various technology fields.

ITU has announced Pakistan’s National Incubation Centers ‘Ignite’ as one of the champion of projects of its environment category at World Summit on the Information Society Prizes 2021.