DigiSkills Initiative will Improve Lives of Thousands Young Girls: Anusha Rahman

Under the chairmanship of Mrs. Anusha Rahman, Minister of State for IT & Telecom, the 55th  Board of Directors Meeting of Ignite – National Technology Fund was held on Tuesday. The higher officials of Ignite particularity reviewed and thoroughly discussed the progress of launching DigiSkills initiative for technology enabled training of 1 Million youth.  DigiSkills Initiative will Improve Lives of Thousands Young Girls: Anusha Rahman.

The Ignite Board approved the floating of Request for Proposal (RFP). It aims to promote specifically the excellence in technology and innovation and building a workforce for a future.

DigiSkills Initiative will Improve Lives of Thousands Young Girls: Anusha Rahman

The board also reviewed and endorsed the funding of 11 high value technical R&D projects against the research proposals, that was submitted by Project Investigators (PI) both from industry and academia. Training and mentorship program for capacity building of funded research teams for commercialization were extensively discussed by the board.

For reader’s acknowledgement it is necessary to discuss it here that this project was announced during the board meeting attended by Mrs. Anusha Rahman,  CEO Ignite Mr. Yusuf Hussain and many other officials in October at Islamabad. In which they have declared that Ignite wants to build a workforce for future driven by 4th industrial revolution.

Minister Ms. Anusha Rehman said in the meeting that these endeavors will not only open the way to enhance the rate of successful commercialization of output of funded projects but also will be helpful to improve Pakistan’s innovation eco-system in general.

Ms. Anusha Rahman emphasized on the involvement of girls in this program and training, as in Pakistan it is not easy for most of the girls to go out and work. So this project will provide them great opportunity.

In a meeting with Swedish Ambassador Ingrid Johnson at Islamabad on Tuesday, she said that computer labs together with Microsoft training are being established at 226 girls schools in Islamabad, which will definitely improve lives of over 100,000 young girls in future.

Minister also assured that:

The government has also established around 150 computer labs including the Baitulmal Women Empowerment Centers where Microsoft is imparting latest technical training  to empower the girls of marginalized background.

The Swedish Ambassador also showed her willingness in cooperation and support  for enhancing bilateral engagement in IT and Telecom spheres.

The Progress and development in IT and Telecom sector is the top priority of the government due to its essential role in overall progress of a country in today’s world. MoITT has taken number of actions in order to accelerate the IT growth.

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