Meet Dr. Umar Saif, a Famous Technologist Appointed Interim Minister for IT & Telecom

Yesterday, the recently sworn-in caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar appointed his new cabinet. As per a credible source, the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom along with the Ministry of Science & Technology has been handed over to the former chairman of Pakistan Information Technology Board (PITB) Dr. Umar Saif.

After his appointment, Dr. Umar Saif in a tweet said that after refusing a government position for many years, today he took oath as the Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom in the caretaker setup. The interim minister said,

Thank you for your love, support and prayers. It is a huge privilege to serve the country at this critical time.

Furthermore, Dr. Umar Saif said that IT holds the key to uplifting the economy of the country through digitization which can lead to the minimization of corruption and increased facilitation of citizens.

About Dr. Umar Saif:

Dr. Umar Saif is a prominent personality in IT academia, management, consulting, and entrepreneurship. He holds prestigious degrees from LUMS, Cambridge, and MIT. As the founding Vice-Chancellor of ITU Punjab, he set up programs in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

He received awards such as the Sitara-i-Imtiaz and MIT TR35 Award. Dr. Saif has earned global recognition and research grants from Microsoft, Google, and more. He led a number of initiatives at PITB, transforming citizen services and launching the Plan-9 incubator. He pioneered tech solutions for epidemics, corruption, and education.

In addition to it, Dr. Saif has been providing advice to global bodies such as ADB, USAID, and the World Bank. He served on boards of key organizations and participated in the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Pakistan.

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