LAHORE ( HAFEEZ REPORT )
Pakistan Software House Association (P@SHA) held its Award Ceremony at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore to recognize technological and entrepreneurial talent in the country.
Though formed in 1993, P@SHA has been regularly holding their annual awards ceremonies to recognize national talent in the technological space for only the past 12 years. The event this year was sponsored primarily by PITB, with DPL, Systems Limited, Infotech, and Telenor Apps acting as secondary sponsors.
A few participants at the event are even going to partake in the APICTA Awards later this year, which recognizes technological prowess in the Asia Pacific Region. As for the ceremony itself, there stood two primary awards categories: Product and Service.
The judges for the event were Zafar Khan, Salman Hamdani, and Badar Khushnood. Dr Shoaib Khan and Jawwad Farid were not able to make the event; however, all five spent valuable time mentoring the teams and judging their products/services for the Awards Ceremony.
President of P@SHA, Jehan Ara, made the opening remarks of the ceremony. She stated that P@SHA had been conducting awards ceremonies to recognize talent in the country for the past 12 years.
She explained the immense difficulty P@SHA was facing when it initially launched in the country.
There was a lot of skepticism among those in the existing software industry who felt that we were not only inadequately equipped to compete against other startups in Asia, but were also not ready to consolidate the current technological and startup ecosystem in Pakistan.
It is on this premise that Jehan Ara feels that the purpose of P@SHA was not just limited to encouraging competition and innovation in the technological space in Pakistan, but to put Pakistan’s name on the map for technological prowess.
P@SHA spends a month training companies in Pakistan to pitch themselves to investors at international events, namely APICTA (Asia Pacific) where they can showcase their product or service, and set a precedent for the auspicious emerging talent in Pakistan.
Afterwards, CEO and Founder of DPL who also serves at the Chairman of P@SHA, Syed Ahmed, delivered a speech, in which he praised the startup community in Pakistan for taking part in such events and to seek out initiatives to better their services and the ecosystem as a whole.
Syed noted that there lies a hindrance and an opportunity in Pakistan’s fast-growing lower end working age population. He said that Startup and IT ecosystem help create jobs for this demographic.
We do not need imports of millions of dollars worth of machinery. We do not need an immense amount of land. We do not need more blue collar jobs.
We need less government regulation in a plethora of industries and more autonomy to the internet space, to give way for more startups so the economy can improve.
However, Syed noted optimism in speech by promising the technology community support to ward off unjustified tax by the government and by establishing a support service for member services through legal exculpation.
“Pakistan’s IT industry is probably the most celebrated, yet unheard of story”‘ remarked Umar Saif, head of the PITB, during his address, which followed Syed’s. Umar noted the boldness in the Punjab government in partaking in Pakistan’s untapped potential in the startup system.
Umar said that 85 startups have graduated from PITB’s programs over the past three years, with a few receiving handsome investments from foreign VC firms.
PITB’s incubator’s and accelerator’s success has lead to more private incubation centres being set up, which he feels will “perform very well and contribute ever so highly to the startup space” due to their indifference to political policies in shaping and grooming startups to receive more investment.
He noted an ever disruptive discrepancy of information that has led to a halt in companies’ growth.
If you were to ask 5 people about the level of remittance Pakistan receives for software exports, you’d get five different answers.
He feels the participants in the Awards Ceremony have come a long way under the expertise and resources provided by an ecosystem he feels will receive heavy investment in the near future.
He promised the startup community an organization to be formed later this year that will offer Enterprise Certification. After Umar completed his speech, the awards ceremony ensued.
P@SHA ICT Awards 2015 – Complete List of Winners
Product Categories
Best in Government & Public Sector
Winner
Company: RAR MultiBiz Services (Pvt.) Ltd
Product: CMIS
Website: www.multibizservices.com
Best in Application Tools & Platforms
Runner Up
Company: Bramerz Private Limited
Product: Fishry
Website: www.bramerz.pk
Runner Up
Company: Avanza Solutions
Product: Novus – Multichannel Switch
Website: www.avanzasolutions.com
Winner
Company: Wavetech FZCO
Product: Opinion Plus
Website: www.wavetec.com
Best in Health and Well Being
Runner Up
Company: CureMD Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited
Product: Population Health Management
Website: www.curemd.com
Winner
Company: CASE / NUST College of EME
Product: AL-BASR
Website: www.case.edu.pk
Best in E-inclusion and Community
Runner Up
Company: UAP
Product: WonderTree
Website: www.wondertree.co
Runner Up
Company: Sukoon.com.pk
Product: Sukoon Online Services
Website: www.sukoon.com.pk
Winner
Company: Evamp & Saanga
Product: Mobile Audio Streaming Service
Website: www.evampsaanga.com
Best in E-Learning
Runner Up
Company: EduCoders
Website: www.educoders.com
Winner
Company: Arbisoft
Product: Play Physics
Website: www.arbisoft.com
Best in E-Logistics and Supply Chain
Runner Up
Company: ESoftBiz
Product: iWMS
Website: www.esoft-biz.com
Winner
Company: Efrotech Services
Product: BizzTrax
Website: www.efrotech.com
Best in Sustainability & Environment Technology
Winner
Company: XGear (Pvt.) Ltd.
Product: XGear – Drive Smart
Website: www.xgear.io
Best in Financial Industry Application
Runner Up
Company: Efrotech Services
Product: ePayroll (Payroll Disbursement Solution)
Website: www.efrotech.com
Runner Up
Company: Monet (Pvt.) Ltd
Product: Swipe2Pay
Website: www.monet-online.com
Winner
Company: AutoSoft Dynamics (Pvt.) Limited
Product: AutoBANKER
Website: www.autosoftdynamics.com
Best in Industrial Application
Winner
Company: Evamp & Saanga
Product: Telecom On-Device-Portal (ODP)
Website: www.evampsaanga.com
Best in Research & Development
Runner Up
Company: BurqStream Technologies
Product: Flow Monitoring & Blockage Detection System
Website: www.burqstream.com
Winner
Company: TunaCode Pvt. Ltd.
Product: Undersea Enhancer
Website: www.tunacode.com
Best in Security Application
Winner
Company: BurqStream Technologies
Product: SecureVideo
Website: www.burqstream.com
Best Startup
Runner Up
Company: Finspire Innovations (Pvt.) Ltd.
Product: Investor Lounge
Website: www.investorlounge.co
Runner Up
Company: Sukoon.com.pk
Product: Sukoon Online Services
Website: www.sukoon.com.pk
Winner
Company: Ingrain (Pvt.) Ltd.
Product: Ingrain
Website:www.ingrain.io
Best Tertiary Student Project
Runner Up
Company: Namal College Mianwali
Product: Rateker
Website: www.rateker.com
Runner Up
Company: College of EME, National University of Sciences and Technology
Product: Development of EMG/ EEG Controlled Upper Limb Prosthesis
Website: www.ceme.nust.edu.pk
Winner
Company: Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture
Product: Whisper O
Website: www.whispero.io
Best in Tourism & Hospitality
Winner
Company: Wavetec FZCO
Product: Vendi
Website: www.wavetec.com
Best School Project
Winner
Company: Teddict
Website: www.teddict.com
Service Categories
Best in Animation
Winner
Company: WeRPlay
Product: Run Sheeda Run
Website: www.werplay.com
Best in Mobile Application
Runner Up
Company: OneByte
Product: CFxComics
Website: www.onebyte.biz
Winner
Company: Avanza Solutions
Product: Proximate
Website: www.avanzasolutions.com
Best in BPO
Winner
Company: Systems Limited
Website: www.systemsltd.com
Best in Brand Development
Runner Up
Company: Avanza Solutions
Website: www.avanzasolutions.com
Winner
Company: Invest2Innovate
Website: www.invest2innovate.com
Best in Gender Diversity
Runner Up
Company: Bramerz Private Limited
Website: www.bramerz.pk
Winner
Company: WeRPlay
Website: www.werplay.com
Best in HR Excellence
Winner
Company: Systems Limited
Website: www.systemsltd.com
Best in Managed Services
Winner
Company: Monet (Pvt.) Ltd
Website:www.monet-online.com
Best in Project Management
Runner Up
Company: Systems Limited
Website: www.systemsltd.com
Winner
Company: TPS Pvt. Ltd.
Product: Ooredoo Payment Gateway Project
Website: www.tpsonline.com
Best in Service Innovation
Runner Up
Company: Software Labs/Streebo
Product: Open Payments Analytics (OPA)
Website: www.streebo.com
Winner
Company: UBL Fund Managers
Website: http://www.ublfunds.com
Best in Social Media (IT Company)
Runner Up
Company: Strategic Alliancez
Website: www.strategicalliancez.com
Winner
Company: Bramerz Private Limited
Website: www.bramerz.pk
Best in Export Growth
Winner
Company: Systems Limited
Website: www.systemsltd.com
CIO of the Year (Private Sector)
Winner
Company: Muhammad Rehan Qadri, CIO UBL Fund Managers