November issue 2011

By | Business | Technology | Published 12 years ago

apicta-2011-3It’s never an easy task to top a stellar performance, but somehow a group of Pakistani IT professionals and entrepreneurs managed to do it.

Last year at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA), the P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association) delegation came away with seven silver awards in six different categories (see The Road to APICTA). This year, the P@SHA delegation set a new benchmark: they bagged two gold and five silver awards at APICTA 2011 held in Pattaya, Thailand.

Speaking to Newsline last year after the 2010 APICTA success, P@SHA’s president, Jehan Ara, remarked, “APICTA is not only an opportunity to create revenue for the company but also a chance to generate value for the country.” Well, this year, Team Pakistan created value, and much more. Expressing her sentiments right after their brilliant performance on November 11, Jehan Ara wrote this on her blog:

apicta-2011-2“As Pakistan’s name was called again and again … at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2011, my heart was bursting with pride and a sense of accomplishment … Pakistan was amongst the leaders at the APICTA …We were right up there with Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia. Our friends from around the region came and shook our hands and remarked ‘Pakistan certainly has done well!’ One could see the respect in their eyes, one could hear it in their voices. They had recognised the fact that Pakistan had truly arrived!”

For Pakistan to be showered with praise and recognised for its achievement in a field where other countries have been firmly established for years is a proud moment indeed, not just for the participants but also those back home. As members of the delegation announced the results via social media as they were being announced at the ceremony, congratulatory messages for Team P@SHA started pouring in. Pakistan picked up gold medals in the e-Logistics and e-Health categories, while five silvers were earned in the APICTA categories of e-Inclusion and e-Community, security, financial applications, communication and e-Government.

Here’s the list of winners whose awards raised Pakistan’s rank to fourth among 11 nations.

APICTA Gold Winners

1.  e-Logistics & Supply Chain Management Applications
Product: Candela RMS Ultimate Edition
Lumensoft Pvt Ltd
http://lumensoft.biz/

An exciting mature product with more than 700 implementations across Pakistan in the retail store and inventory management space that beat entries from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia to come out as number one.

2. e-Health Applications Category
Product: Arrythmia & Sudden Death Syndrome Detection
CARE (Center for Advanced Research in Engineering)
http://carepvtltd.com/

CARE’s first gold at the competition came up in the Head Judges briefing when the Head Judge for the category spoke about the professionalism and quality of not just the CARE team, but the entire Pakistan delegation.

APICTA Silver — Merit Awards

1.    e-Government Applications Category
Product: National Air Space Management System (NASMS)
Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE)
http://carepvtltd.com/

A consolidated national air space management system that brings together elements of detection, management, violation, flight plans and projected paths.

2. e-Inclusion & E-Community Applications Category
Product: EMAN
Engro Foods & Orix Leasing Pakistan
http://Engro.com/

One of the largest milk collection networks in the world uses technology to bring financial services to the milk producers of inner Punjab.

3. Security Applications Category
Product: Consolidated Security System
Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE)
http://carepvtltd.com/

A consolidated electronic security platform at the national level.

4. Financial Applications Category
Product: Capizar Suite of Applications
Infotech Pvt Limited
http://infotechgroup.com/

A complete end-to-end solution for capital markets in the developing world.

5. Communications
Product: CCLC Controller
CARE Pvt. Ltd.
http://carepvtltd.com/

Read more on P@SHA, APICTA and the awards below (from the P@sha press release):

ABOUT P@SHA ICT Awards

The Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA) is the trade association representing the IT and IT Enabled Services sector in Pakistan. Its membership comprises 400 companies from across the country. For the past eight years P@SHA has been holding its annual P@SHA ICT Awards (http://pashaictawards.org) to recognise innovation in the ICT Sector. Winners of the P@SHA ICT Awards are nominated to attend the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA).

P@SHA also works in the areas of policy advocacy and legislative reform, as well as research.

ABOUT APICTA

The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards is an international awards program that aims to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide. By providing networking and product benchmarking opportunities to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region, the program is designed to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity, promote economic and trade relations, facilitate technology transfer, and offer business matching opportunities via exposure to venture capitalists and investors.

P@SHA Delegation at APICTA 2011

International APICTA judges who graded and evaluated categories in which Pakistan participated spoke about the consistently high standard of presentations made by the Pakistani delegation, the level of preparedness and professionalism of Pakistani delegates, and the trouble they had in picking winners and merit awards in competitive categories such as e-Learning and New Media and Entertainment. Mr Stephen Lau, a member of the judges advisory panel, the ExCo as well as a member of the core team behind the awards, spoke about the progress Pakistan has made over the years at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards and how he has seen the team grow from a small delegation to one of the fastest growing delegations at APICTA. The 30-strong Pakistan delegation put their hands together to celebrate each “Gold” and “Merit” win with 600 other delegates in attendance at the event.

Over the years the event has become a platform for Pakistani companies to meet with partners, counterparts and competition on one platform while presenting the case for their products in front of judges from 20 economies. This year was no different. While some teams didn’t win, their pitches and products didn’t go unnoticed. There is hope that over the next few weeks some of the regional collaboration conversations that took place will generate even more good news for Team Pakistan.

Team Pakistan will now represent the nation next year in Brunei at the 2012 Asia Pacific ICT Awards.

– Source: P@SHA press release

Farieha Aziz is a Karachi-based journalist and teacher. She joined Newsline in 2007, rising to assistant editor. Farieha was awarded the APNS award for Best Investigative Report (Business/Economic) for the year 2007-2008. She is a co-founder and Director at Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum of Digital Rights.