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Call for free Internet access to educational institutions

KARACHI: Internet is the medium of future and steps need to be taken to assure its easier and free accessibility to everyone, especially students and educational institutions. This was emphasised by Safi Qureshi, co-founder and former CEO of AST Research Inc. USA.

At the seminar which was organised by the Centre for Computer Studies of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi at city campus on Monday evening.

Dr. Irfan Haider, director CCS, IBA and former senator and chairman IT Commission, Mazher Ali also spoke on this occasion.

Qureshi also emphasised on the need for building a strong and skilled manpower base in Pakistan. Apart from that he also urged the need to give more importance the use of media for increase in literacy rate and educational purpose for improving the communication skills of people.

He said that we need to improve the faculty standard of IT educational institutions. According to him one of the key issue is the inability of these institutions to retain their senior faculty members, chiefly due to the financial unattractiveness of the profession and fewer growth opportunities. He said that it was a major problem that need immediate attention and the institutions were unable to come up with an appropriate solution.

Speaking to the seminar former senator Mazher Ali lauded the role of Safi Qureshi for the promotion of IT industry in Pakistan. He said that government is considering a proposal to provide free internet service to the educational institutions of the country. Dr. Irfan Haider said that we need more internet and more software development in the country. He revealed that most of the software companies in Pakistan are too technology oriented, and do not know how to raise capital.

Earlier the centre for computer studies of the Institute of Business Administration also organised a focus group session with Safi Qureshi, in which approximately 40 notable members of industry participated. Amongst the participants were prominent representatives of various multinational organisations, banks, educational institutions, the Sindh government IT Task Force and the Punjab government IT Board. Dr. Javed Ghani, Punjab IT Board, Dr. Zafar Zaidi, Vice Chancellor Karachi University and senator Mazher Ali were also present.

Safi Qureshi commenced the session by emphasising the need for change in the local IT industry. One of the major problems identified was the lack of business-related skills. On which he commented that there is enough capital, but we just need to facilitate that. He said that he believed IBA could be the catalyst to help bring that talent forward. When asked if he would be willing to back investment in Pakistani companies, he said that he has made his own share of mistakes in backing companies. He said that most of his mistakes involved teams that did not have the domain knowledge. The team that holds the most promise is a team that has the domain knowledge. The challenge that still remains to be addressed is that whether there is an exit strategy for everybody, the founders, investors, he added.