ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) arranged an awareness session on Big Data Analysis here at PTA. Chairman PTA, Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Member (Compliance & Enforcement) Abdul Samad, Director Generals (DGs) of Different Divisions of PTA, representatives from Industry and academia attended the session.
Chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismail Shah said that Business Analytics and big data are transforming the way businesses and governments operate. Competing on analytics is the new norm where the competitive advantage is defined by turning proprietary and other data sets into insights using advanced algorithms. The advances in big data analytics present a great opportunity for Pakistan.
Technological advances in storage and computations have enabled cost-effective capture of the informational value of big data in a timely manner. Consequently, one observes a proliferation in real-world adoption of analytics that were not economically feasible for large-scale applications prior to the big data era. The constraints of money, location, and time matter no more.
While being in a small town in Pakistan, and with a decent internet connection, the youth can receive training in advance analytics from the likes of IBM. Instead of preparing an expat workforce to work the minimum wage jobs in other countries, governments could train their workers in big data and analytics to be part of the global network of analytics talent, Chairman further added. Chairman PTA emphasized the role of PTA by providing training with partners in industry, academia and international universities. Majority of population is youth so it is a big opportunity for trainings in skilled programmes.
On this occasion, Professor Dr. Murtaza Haider gave a detailed presentation to the participants on what institutions in Pakistan can do to benefit from the growing demand in analytics. He also introduced the participants about bigdatauniversity.com, an IBM-led university that is offering free training in big data analytics. It may be added that Dr. Murtaza Haider is an associate professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, in Toronto. Dr. Haider specializes in applying analytics and statistical models to find solutions for socio-economic challenges. His research interests include applied analytics, data science, forecasting housing market dynamics, transport/infrastructure/urban planning, and human development in Canada and South Asia.
