Asha Jadeja Motwani, an angel investor and philanthropist based in Silicon Valley, U.S., has expressed her interest in establishing a cutting-edge and state-of-art Fablab, Fabrication Laboratory in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi.
Asha Jadeja is the founder and patron of the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation (MJFF), a charitable organization based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation states its mission statement as:
“To support entrepreneurs in under-served pockets of the world and to promote the development of world-class education, innovation, and empowerment of people particularly in India, Africa, and the United States.”
In a meeting held on Wednesday, at Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) office, a detailed discussion over the steps required for the implementation of forthcoming project took place. Chaired by Sindh’s Minister for Information Technology, Sikander Shoro and Chairperson Sindh Board of Investment, Naheed Memon, the meeting highlighted the pivotal role the US-based Investor could play in establishing a state-of-the-art Fabrication Laboratory in Karachi.
Jadeja has demanded 2000 square yards land for foundation-funded programs in Karachi, in return for the Foundation’s support in providing necessary funding and resources for the Fab lab project.
Representatives of Sindh Information Technology department, Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) and Sindh Enterprises Development Fund (SEDF) reaffirmed their commitment and support to promoting sustainable business practices and implementing the goals and targets towards achieving a vision of state-of-the-art Fabrication Laboratory.
About: Fab lab
FabLab (fabrication laboratory) aims to support technology innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into actual products and prototypes by giving them access to a range of technologies and research assistance.
The idea was proposed by Neil Gershenfeld, a renowned scientist Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), back in 2001. The aim has been to provide the environment and the opportunity for young entrepreneurs to work with researchers and engineers and get first-hand experience on how to build or improve their products in an ever-changing technology landscape.
FabLab today has a strong global network of over 1096 labs spread across 30 countries including India, China and Afghanistan. The United States has the highest number of Fablabs (146), followed by France (138) and Italy (131).
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