Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication has established National Incubation Centers (NICs) across the country to provide a nurturing environment to technology based business ideas for them to prosper and become viable contributors to our community and economy.

Pakistan’s first largest NIC at Islamabad is up and running, under the public-private partnership providing a comprehensive eco system for startups, incubators and accelerators.

The NIC Lahore was established at the Lahore University of Management Sciences by the Minister of State IT Anusha Rahman who inaugurated it in December 2017.

After the successful launch of NIC Peshawar, NIC Karachi is LMKT’s second venture into the national incubation space. The Karachi incubation centre is projected to start operations in the second quarter of 2018.

Ignite – The Technology Fund has awarded LUMS a project worth Rs 560 million to set-up an NIC in Quetta.

NIC Quetta is the last of the five regional NICs that the Ministry of IT & Telecom is funding through Ignite for the promotion of entrepreneurship in the country.

In order to promote entrepreneurship in Pakistan, the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication has established National Information Technology Park at Chak Shahzad Islamabad and work on IT Parks in Lahore and Karachi would also begin soon.

Islamabad IT park key features include space for 5,000 IT professionals, a data centre, incubation centre, business centres and support infrastructure.

Fourteen software technology parks are providing nearly 1 million square feet of space to IT companies with state of the art redundant facilities in numerous cities and more are in the pipeline in various phases.

Ignite CEO Yousaf Hussain said the NICs aim to present an opportunity for startups that seek to solve meaningful problems with the help of academia and for corporate.

While talking to media, he said, the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication has established NICs across the country to transform and thrive in this age of global competition and pervasive change by partnering with the investing in startups.

Yousaf Hussain said that there were 140 projects which were going to be executed but in the last one year “we have funded 30 projects”.

He said the establishment of the NICs would assist in channeling the entrepreneurial drive amongst young graduates of the nation.

“Innovation is the need of the hour and by empowering our youth with the necessary digital skills and entrepreneurial acumen we can enable them to tackle society’s most challenging problems,” he said.

While responding to a question, he said, “We are working with universities, industries and startups because with collective efforts, we can deliver effectively and efficiently,” he said.

He thanked the present government for taking important steps for the IT industry, “3G/4G has given a boost to the IT industry”.

Published in Daily Times, April 15^th 2018.