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Telenor Pakistan and Facebook imparting digital skills to empower women entrepreneurs under World Bank’s GLWE initiative

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) In continuation of its commitment to empower societies across the country, and celebrate International Women’s Day, Telenor Pakistan has begun implementation of their pledge under Girls Learn, Women Earn (GLWE) initiative with a digital skills bootcamp for women entrepreneurs. 100 aspiring women entrepreneurs will be trained via Telenor Pakistan’s flagship design thinking program, ACTIVATE and #SheMeansBusiness, Facebook’s program on digital skills and the ambition for 2020 is to train 1000 women.

The inauguration ceremony was held at Telenor Pakistan’s 345 campus, attended by the company’s CEO and top management along with Ms. Beth Ann, Head of Policy, Facebook, industry leaders, diplomats and key stakeholders. Speakers during the session shed light on how the GLWE initiative and other similar activities undertaken by the participating organizations were facilitating the search for prospective solutions to the issues that women in our society face.

Improvements in technology and implementation of digital services are helping erase barriers between suppliers and customers across the world. In Pakistan, there is immense potential for women in particular to demonstrate exceptional contributions in various fields. This bootcamp launched by Telenor Pakistan in partnership with Facebook’s #SheMeansBusiness programme trains and facilitates women with essential digital skills for business growth and provides a space for entrepreneurs to make valuable connections. Through this, all partners are working towards achieving their goals of greater financial and digital inclusion.

“We believe in creating an enabling environment for our team members to grow and excel both personally as well as professionally. Our partnership with the World Bank and Facebook is a representation of our efforts to provide a similar atmosphere for women across the country who have the will but lack the resources to become partners in the development of our economy and society” Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan & Head of Emerging Asia Cluster said at the inauguration. “We at Telenor Pakistan have always been a very strong proponent of women’s empowerment and inclusion, both inside and outside the workplace. Being cognizant of their challenges, we have designed this digital skills bootcamp to equip them with essential skills to propel their careers further,” he added.

“When women do better, we all benefit. Pakistani women entrepreneurs are resourceful, and we want them to understand how going digital can help them start and expand their ventures. Through the #SheMeansBusiness program and our partnership with Telenor, we aim to connect entrepreneurial women with empowering tools, peers and networks,” said Beth Ann Lim, Head of Community Affairs for APAC at Facebook.

ACTIVATE is a design-driven innovation program of Telenor which imparts aspiring entrepreneurs with creative problem-solving skills. The foundation of this flagship program is based on design thinking principles and is executed through design sprint framework by Google Ventures. The women entrepreneurs learned creative visual thinking and design sprint methodologies to quickly find problems and build innovative solutions. Through #SheMeansBusiness, an initiative of Facebook the entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to learn essential digital skills for business growth including Facebook marketing, content creation, page moderation tools and analytics.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Microsoft, through its Microsoft for Startups initiative, has announced the launch of its Global Social Entrepreneurship programme.

Around the world, startups are creating new businesses, built around powerful technologies and designed to make the world a better place. Innovators and entrepreneurs are finding new ways to harness technology to drive purpose-led social enterprises that measure success not just by the profits they generate, but by the good they do. Microsoft is deeply inspired by the commitment of these social entrepreneurs, who are focusing their passion for positive change on improving human health and the environment, advancing social and economic equity, and much more.

But these are huge, complicated problems and far too large for any single organisation to hope to solve alone. So to empower social entrepreneurs, Microsoft is launching a new Global Social Entrepreneurship programme to offer qualified startups access to technology, skills, customers and grants.

The Global Social Entrepreneurship programme has benefits aimed specifically at elevating startups addressing an important social and/or environmental challenge through their products, services or operations.

“Solving global social and environmental challenges requires synergy of the right technology, partners, conducive environment and technology. When startups work together with investors, enterprises, governments, non-profits and communities, we are able to unlock new potentials,” said Microsoft4Afrika Director AmroteAbdella.

This global initiative is designed to help social enterprise startups build and scale their companies to do good globally. Microsoftbelieves in providing the foundational building blocks to help social entrepreneurs create companies that can achieve worldwide impact. Social enterprises that become part of the Global Social Entrepreneurship programme will receive access to free Microsoft cloud technologies, including up to $120,000 in Azure credits, along with technical support and guidance.

A dedicated programme manager will help Global Social Entrepreneurship startups market and sell solutions and connect to large commercial organisations and nongovernmental organisations that are potential customers. Participants focused on sustainability, accessibility, and skills and employability will also be eligible for grants. Furthermore, the social enterprises that join the Global Social Entrepreneurship programme will be part of a worldwide community of like-minded innovators who come together to share ideas, foster connections and celebrate success.

The programmeis available in 140 countries and will actively seek to support underrepresented founders with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

Founded by two female Pakistani doctors Dr Iffat Zafar and Dr Sara SaeedKhurram, SehatKahani is empowering female doctors and digitising healthcare in Pakistan. An e-health startup, the company aims to democratise access to quality and affordable health care using cost-effective ICT enabled solutions through a network of qualified home-based female doctors.

The services integrate health with technology to create virtual solutions that provide access to health for all while making use of the untapped female health resources of Pakistan. Microsoft through the 4Afrika initiative has supported SehatKahani with go-to-market strategy and provided advisory roles for strategies on scaling up and growing their business. This has also facilitated the design of a digital health solution including a mobile app and a web platform to diagnose and treat a broad range of diseases virtually.

“We are working towards a future where healthcare is available to all irrespective of their gender, race, ethnicity or social class using technology as an equaliser for all, and our partnership with Microsoft has been a game-changer in our journey,” says Dr Sara Saeed Khurram.

Social impact startups from around the world are welcome to apply. The criteria to qualify for the programme includes a business metric that measures impact on an important social or environmental challenge; an established product or service that will benefit from access to enterprise customers; and a commitment to the ethical and responsible use of AI.Qualified startups will be eligible for grants in the areas of sustainability, accessibility, skills and employability.

Through Global Social Entrepreneurship, Microsoft looks forward to working in close partnership with social enterprises from around the world. To find out more about the Global Social Entrepreneurship programme, or to apply, visit startups.microsoft.com/socialentrepreneurship

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) organised a multi-stakeholder corporate networking conference on the theme ‘Punjab: Pakistan’s Industrial and Talent Powerhouse’ here in Faisalabad to emphasise on the need for future-readiness of businesses to keep Faisalabad globally competitive and make it lucrative for foreign investors.

As a hub for industrialisation in Pakistan, Faisalabad is on the cusp of a technological revolution and the need for organisations to be future-ready was never greater. At ACCA’s conference, prominent thought leaders and policy makers discussed and proposed recommendations on how to keep Faisalabad region up to speed amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution by adopting a growth agenda based on the golden principles of inclusivity, integrity and innovation.

‘As the global body for professional accountants, ACCA is a super-connector – seeing, facilitating and maximising linkages across the profession for the benefit of our members, economies and society at large. Conferences like this allow us to share our future-focused Professional Insights and help organisations to think ahead and stay future-fit.’ – Assad Hameed Khan, Market Head – Business Development, ACCA Pakistan  

Senator Walid Iqbal was the Chief Guest at the event. He delivered a passionate speech on the future of Faisalabad region, emphasised on the role of business community in keeping ‘Manchester of Pakistan’ ahead on the global stage, and shared the government’s commitment. He also urged policy makers and regulators to facilitate investors and improve ease of doing business in the city.

The conversations remained focused on three key areas: Ensuring inclusivity and equality of opportunity to create an economy that serves everyone regardless of their background, building trust and earning global credibility for businesses in an environment of trust crisis by upholding highest standards of ethics, and to encourage innovation to truly transform and future-proof our manufacturing sector. 

The conference also discussed how our manufacturing sector can adopt latest technologies and develop future-ready talent to compete and win globally. Rana Muhammad Sikandar Azam, President, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industries shared with attendees his exclusive insights into the future of textile sector in Pakistan and shared how their member organisations are leading the change.

Speaking at the conference, ACCA’s Head of Business Development – Central, Muhammad Shahid Khan, said:

‘Faisalabad contributes significantly to our national GDP and its manufacturing sector is among the biggest employers. It’s crucial for organisations operating in the district to ensure their sustainability and futureproof jobs by staying ahead of the curve when it comes to disruptive technologies.’

The conference offered local businesses, thought leaders, and policy makers an opportunity to sit together and form an actionable agenda to help the region realise its true economic potential.

The conversation leaders at the event included, Zia Ul Mustafa, President, Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), Dr Tanveer Hussain, Rector, National Textile University, Muhammad Iqbal Ghori, Director Finance & Strategic Planning, Sadaqat Limited, Syed Rehan Hussain, Chief Operating Officer, Akhuwat Foundation, Beau Seil, Partner Singapore Southeast Asia Investment Lead, Patamar Capital, Zunaira Riaz, Senior Manager Professional Qualifications and Career Development Centre, The Millennium Universal College (TMUC), Arslan Anwar, Head of Internal Audit, Master Tiles, Sarfraz Ahmed Nadeem, Chief Manager Faisalabad, State Bank of Pakistan, and Altaf Hussain, Depty Commissioner, Punjab Revenue Authority.

The event was supported by ACCA’s partner organisations including, Akhuwat Foundation, British Deputy High Commission Karachi, Sadaqat Limited, Khas Holding, Lahore Grammar School, TMUC, SKANS School of Accountancy, Sitara Labels, University of London, Adroit Accountancy, OBOX Accounting, and SOS Security.

ACCA will also be hosting a corporate networking conference on similar conversation themes in Multan on 13 March 2020.