ISLAMABAD: A body of seven countries, formed to promote digitisation and digital economy in member states, has decided to enhance skills of Pakistani students by introducing an opportunity for schoolchildren to learn game development, robotics, artificial intelligence and other innovative areas.

The initiative titled Pakistan Innovation Challenge will provide children an opportunity to participate in online competitions. The decision to launch the initiative was taken jointly by the Ministry of Information Technology and the visiting delegation of Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) to promote public-private partnership, enhance the role of women in IT, provide digital facilities in urban and rural areas and promote self employment among skilled youth.

Minister of IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq talking to Dawn said that the students will participate in competitions related to designing and creating 3D stories, developing games, and other innovations.

The Pakistan Innovation Challenge will be executed with support of the DCO by the IT ministry, Special Technology Zones Authority and technology companies PolyUp and Innovators Garage.

The DCO, established in 2020, consists of seven founding member countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Nigeria, Oman and Jordan.

The idea of establishing the DCO was floated by the government of Saudi Arabia to enable market opportunities for people of member countries. The first secretary general of DCO is Deema Al-Yahya, an IT professional belonging to Saudi Arabia, who is currently visiting the member states.

In the last leg of the tour before proceeding to Nigeria, she noted that progress made by Pakistan in the sector highlighted importance of the Pakistan-DCO partnership to enable digital prosperity for all.

The statement issued by the DCO secretariat states that Ms Yahya has lauded the inclusion of young people, women and entrepreneurs in Pakistan’s digital economy.

“The DCO is committed to enabling Pakistan’s progress in these areas,” she added, “We look forward to supporting Pakistan as a valued member state of the DCO for years to come.”

Pakistan has informed the DCO delegation of innovative solutions to provide IT and telecom services to rural areas without public sector investment.

“The Universal Service Fund (USF) and other ideas of Ministry of IT were presented to the DCO that can be replicated in other countries,” the IT minister said.

USF is financed by telecom companies operating in the country and this fund is utilised for establishing telecom infrastructure in rural and remote areas where companies do not enter as business volumes are not attractive.

Mr Haq said member countries could benefit from the expertise of start-ups in Pakistan by investing in them while joint efforts were also required for free movement of IT professionals and companies in member countries.

“The Pakistan government is committed to providing all our citizens with the skills to benefit from our vision of a knowledge-based digital economy. The Pakistan Innovation Challenge is a great example of how we are partnering globally to support our children and Pakistan’s future,” the minister added.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2021