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General
It’s heartening to see that Pakistani IT companies have now started to diversify themselves into non traditional areas, and are competing with global players in areas such as gaming. We have received information that 10Pearls, one of the leading mobile and enterprise web development services companies in Pakistan, has spun-off a separate entity focused solely on developing and publishing casual mobile games. The new entity, Game Plan8, will focus on creating 2D and 3D games for the iOS, Google Android, Kindle, Facebook and other platforms. Details can be seen on the company’s official press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/12/prweb11428177.htm
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General Telecom
If only were there two things when it comes to the law, firstly the fear of breaking it and by passing the legal authority, and secondly, implementation of the law given full dedication, there would have been less competency and dishonesty in business and society. However, keeping good faith, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has put forward “Deceptive Marketing Guidelines” which will maintain the Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010. In order to enforce this part of the law and stop anti-competitive conduct on part of the telecom companies in advertising, the guidelines have been shared with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and other concerned telecommunication sector members, in …
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General
From time to time, despite all odds against Pakistan’s current security vulnerability, business and foreign investment come into the country for the potential and opportunities it provides. Pakistan’s energy needs are tremendous and it needs innovative energy solutions. An international energy solutions company based in Europe has taken interest in exploring its chances in Pakistan’s energy market and is willing to offer latest energy solutions at a low cost. This foreign company is Tameer Energy, part of the Tameer Foundation, which promises to bring state-of-the-art technology developed by NASA engineers to Pakistan.
The CEO of Tameer Energy, Saeed Zuberi says that this technology has not been applied anywhere yet. The …
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General Telecom
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was supposed to have completed the system of biometric SIM verification by now, but it has been delayed. The biometric SIM verification system was required for purchase of new connections. The delay had been caused by the absence of decision-making officials at the PTA. The other parties concerned with this new system to be introduced, both the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and the telecom companies are all prepared for this new system to take over.
The absence of officials has been caused by the internal problems that PTA has been going through one after the other. After the dismissal of the former chairman Farooq …
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General
Recently, the construction for the Latif Ebrahim Jamal (LEJ) Nanotechnology Research Centre began at the University of Karachi. The ceremony for this occasion was performed by the former Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman along with Dean of the Faculty of Science, Prof. Dr. Shahana Urooj Kazmi. Other government representatives were also in attendance.
The LEJ Research Institute of Nanotechnology will be established inside Karachi University’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS). The Hussein Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) Foundation has contributed a lot in Pakistan’s scientific endeavours and has brought the country regional and international recognition. Due to these institutes, Pakistan is known in the …
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General Telecom
Recently, the Prime Minister inaugurated different telecommunication, health and education projects worth Rs.1.7 billion in Sanghar, Sindh. Telecommunication is important for socio-economic growth, because not only does it provides connectivity, but also employment to thousands of people. The three schemes for telecommunication are worth Rs.71 million. It is positive news that a rural area in interior Sindh is being brought up to the level as rest of the country through initiation of these projects.
Through the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) Rural Telecom Project, around 213 villages in Mirpurkhas and 426 villages in Dadu in Sindh will get basic telephony and data services with a subsidy of Rs.930 million and Rs.250 …
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Announcements General Mobile Apps Software & I.T.
There is a dearth of apps for kids and toddlers focusing on Urdu language. So its always feels great when an organization makes an effort to address this small niche market. We have companies like Qurtaba who made some great small apps on iPhone and iOS, and then ToffeeTv generated some great content for kids in Urdu available on web. Now we have Jugnoo Media working on promoting Urdu and Urdu apps for kids and Toddlers.
They have released an app for iPad and iPhone, its called Duddoo Aur Dhobi which is a combination of two Urdu Poems and presented in a very fun and attractive, interactive poem. Kids …
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General
The National Institute of Design and Analysis (NIDA) will be conducting specialised vocational courses for females that will equip them for Fashion and Textile Design, Apparel Making and Domestic Tailoring. Other than these, female students will also be offered courses in Multimedia Graphics, Architecture Design, Basic Auto CAD, and Basic Computer Skills.
The Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC) has a subsidiary, NIDA, which will be undertaking all of these vocational courses. TUSDEC is registered with Trade Testing Board (TTB) for CAD/CAM enabled vocational courses.
The spokesperson further said that the courses are open for enrolment where each course is signified with an extensive and operable curricula particularly contrived …
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General
Toxic fumes from e-waste in Pakistani villages have become a major environmental and health hazard. Mostly pure people from the villages burn these e-waste products, those computers, devices and gadgets that have been discarded irresponsibly by the users and various companies. In Pakistan, there said to exist a secret, in words illegal, e-waste recycling cottage industry that has been recently reported several times. The attention of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) toward the drastic situation these toxic fumes lead to must be focused on solving the issue as they are part of the market.
At a recent conference held in Zurich on ICT for Sustainability, the e-waste in Pakistan …
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4:02 pm
O yes, quite right… I am working as a team lead after roughly 6 months of industry experience in software dev. and looking for MBA now… thinking of starting it this summer.
But, I think that is the right move after Team lead as I think that path helps in managing teams effectively and climbing the promotion ladder in hierarchy.
Mansoor, you are quite right that most people have off shore project experience more because more work related to web dev. has become the part of life there, not in Pakistan. Think about this that how many companies in Pakistan are doing business via there websites. Mean while i have seen companies in Canada(affordableprogrammers.com) doing their soul business via their website and google Adwords.
But the trend is changing with competition between different DSL companies, internet trend is growing.
5:07 pm
Mostly true, but many old software firm (Systems Ltd. for example) do have Architect level positions, and some firms have more than 7-8 levels of heirarchy.
On the last point, I think that the educational institutes are churning out CS grads in greater numbers than ever before, and the people who qualify for managerial positions are mostly sitting (or plan to be sitting) outside of Pakistan.
So IMHO, the ratio of available manager monkeys to available code monkeys has not changed/will not change significantly – though the gap in experience between these two species will probably widen as “good” people still prefer to emigrate after a few years of experience.
11:52 pm
Great post Mansoor and most of the trends you mentioned are very true. We at Zigron have tried our best to change few of these trends but its not always that easy.
- We are addressing few of these issues by having an absolute flat structure. Within Zigron titles dont matter rather what your role is and that is up for grabs for anyone.
- We are trying to create an environment where every role has its own growth path plus better salaries. We are discouraging our team to not only think about being a Manager. For us “Management” is just a task.
- We are pushing hard to create Architects role and one such position is in play but again it takes time for all of us to realize the importance of such role.
Overall I think young resources who are not aware of Pak IT Industry are more adaptable to such new approaches thats why I think we as an industry need to reach out more to students and explain to them that you can have a big pay day even if you work in QA if thats what your passion is.
5:10 pm
Designers are missing from most of the companies, if you think designers are redundant compare Apple with Microsoft.
9:48 pm
@aa
You are right generally designers are not properly appreciated but I think its slowly changing.. you can look at firms like CDF software and us where User Experience is a very major core…
4:15 am
Let me add few things… people are preferring MBA over CS because for our industry it doesn’t matter you have done some good research … but ‘oh! an MBA can manager technological better?’ (wow) ..
Industry should identify their problem in order to motivate people to find the solutions of those problems by doing research in our local universities instead depending on others!
Surprisingly, most of the companies having very few posts of senior technical level like Architecture, whether I believe there should be one post associates with each project like PMs.
4:16 am
@previous post
‘oh! an MBA can manage technological people better?’ (wow) ..
8:18 pm
most of the graduates prefer fat salaries over actual learning. The problem is with the schools and people that influence them. They keep telling them (dictating them) to do THIS, because this ‘ll get ‘em THAT.
They hardly listen to what they are really passionate about.That’s why after 2-3 years they start realizing they’re stuck in the wrong places.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Steeve Jobs
Increased collaboration between the schools and industry players is required for sharing knowledge which would help fresh graduate to think about the big picture.
4:58 pm
thanks for the input everyone. just a clarification, i did not write this article, just reposted it. it was originally written by Ahmed Siddiqi.
my next post is going to be on middle tier people, the ones who manage various aspects of development lifecycle rather than doing them.
these people form a necessary part of the organizational structure which is looking to expand beyond the 25 person glass ceiling most software companies seem to be hitting here.
11:11 pm
In Pakistan the sooner people realize this, the better it is. Those who are software engineers they should rather focus on building their coding skills. Learn different tools used in the industry, Learn different programming languages but should have deep understanding for one. Here in US, the software developers command very high salary. It is because it is easier to learn soft skills (project management etc) than technical skills. People with technical skills never go out of jobs. Software developers even with just BS can command salaries from $60,000 – 120,000. After 5-10 years of experience, you can be an Architect or Sales engineer and can command even higher salaries. So, don’t down play software engineering. Similarly, you can do well as database administrator, database developer, Linux system Administrator, Windows System Administrator, Quality Assurance Engineer, Project Management etc.
People should NEVER do project management after ONLY 6 months of developer experience. You will never be a good project manager and your skill set will remain mediocre. In US, my few friends are doing project management after spending many years as developer.
11:35 pm
I have a question for you guys.
What is the name of the company in Pakistan which builds the fleet/work force management software? I knew the name but have forgotten it. It was something like Tracker or tera data.
If you guys know please give me their correct name and web address. Thanks
7:40 pm
It is very easy to critisize. The thing is what an individual has done in this regard.
If we all produce good solutions then we will inshAllah beat the international market sooner or later so start working on it.
10:30 am
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