NIC Hyderabad marks Global Entrepreneurship Week

HYDERABAD: The National Incubation Centre (NIC), Hyderabad, a Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom and Ignite — funded facility created to serve as a catalyst for Sindh and Pakistan’s economic development celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week for the first time in the city, a statement said.

The sixth facility of its kind in Pakistan, it is being run by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and LMKT, a full-service technology company based in Pakistan.

The celebration kicked off on November 14 with Sameer Aftab and Mursal Furqan, the founders of NIC Hyderabad’s Cohort-1 startup IndusTech.io, giving a workshop on what skillsets can help the people develop successful careers in technology.

The incredibly interesting session was followed by the Umair Jaliawala talking to a packed room about embracing all the unique differences that make the people stand out.

The day culminated in the first panel of the week, celebrating the Gen Global theme of inclusion.

Moderated by Natasha Uderani — Startup Engagement Manager at the NIC Hyderabad, the panel featured a group of people who strived hard to make workplaces inclusive for all, including Hira Saeed from CaterpillHERs, Arhum Ishtiaq from Connect Hear, Ayesha Amin from Baithak — Challenging Taboos, H S Umer Farooq from Boltay Huroof and Rushna Hussain Memon from Nestlé.

The day two was kicked off with a workshop by the founder of Verbue — Vikram Kumar Devnani who explained what digital currencies are.

The panel was focused on the theme of education and talked about how the ecosystem could be cultivated through education and incubation.

Moderated by Azfar Hussain, project director of NIC Hyderabad, the panel featured a diverse array of participants, including Professor Dr Arabella Bhutto, director of MUISTD; Sana Shah, project manager at the National Incubation Centre Karachi; Muhammad Nabeel, managing director at EDVON Robotics; Syed Wajahat, founder at the Learning Pitch; Dr Arifa Bhutto, focal person at the Technology Incubation Centre UoS; and Faisal Jamil, vice president of LMKT (Pvt) Ltd.

The day three saw Baithak Founder Ayesha Amin guiding the participants on picking the right career for themselves and a panel on how startup-friendly policies can contribute to a thriving ecosystem.

The panel was moderated by Mukesh Kumar, provincial chief of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) and included Faisal Wahab, CEO of the Learning Hut, Muhammad Asad Hasnain, CFO of AgriDunya Technologies; Aamir Shaikh, CEO of Gexton Group of Companies; Huma Jabeen, consultant, Educator, and Trainer; Hassan Syed, founder of Ideagist and Hallar Azad, CEO of Mixeal.

The day four mixed things up a little by holding a career fair to help the youth of Hyderabad find jobs in the multinational companies (MNCs) and startups.

Some of the fastest growing companies and startups in Hyderabad participated in the event, including Meezan Bank, Soneri Bank, Verge System, Net2App, BaseCamp, Intrepreneur, Skillvention, Ideagist, Zetsol Technologies, Gexton, Sapphire, etc.

The day also saw an incredibly insightful workshop on “Digital Marketing and Freelancing 101” led by the founders of Salon Tracer — Pashmina Rahim and Samra Hafeez.

The panel on how the startup ecosystems can change the future of work was moderated by WebHR Country Head Zeeshan Abro and included panelists who have contributed significantly to the startup ecosystem, including Aizaz Nayyer, co-founder — Linkstar, Syed Azhar, co-founder — Carvan, Khurram Kalimi CEO of Vinncorp, Huma Khan, founder of BookMySpot, Bushra Shah — Master Coach and Business Consultant, Anum Shakeel, founder of The Marketects Club.

The last day of the event included the continuation of the career fair and two inspiring workshops by Saquib Niaz and Anis H Younus.

The event was capped off by paying homage to Hyderabad’s tech-related success stories, people who have made a name for themselves in the technological world and have made Hyderabad proud.

The panel was moderated by Rimsha Amin, monitoring and evaluation executive of NIC Hyderabad and the panelists included Sennen Desouza from Investors Lounge, Saad Shah from UCAAZ, Tamijid Aijazi from BelaCorp, Wajahat Karim from Trustworks and Farooq Afzal from Pak-Turk Business Council.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week was officially closed by guest of honour Engr Sabir Hussain Kaimkhani — parliamentary secretary for the Maritime Affairs who talked about how such events can play an important role in creating a thriving ecosystem in the city and give the youth opportunities to excel and grow.