The highly commendable and much awaited P@SHA ICT Awards 2014 had been capturing social media’s high-end spotlight for quite some time. The Award Ceremony was held on November 15, 2014 at Morvenpick Hotel, Karachi to recognize the Software and Service Applications Development companies of Pakistan.

Since the ceremony is always attended by distinguished personalities from the Tech Industry of Pakistan, the 11^th P@SHA ICT Awards ceremony focused to open numerous doors for establishing networks and creating business alliances. The aim was to collaborate with participating companies and increase exposure to investment opportunities. That’s why it was the perfect time for P@SHA to make its incubation program official.

P@SHA’s initiative to organize P@SHA ICT Award every year from the past 10 years has ignited the flame of creativity, innovation and excellence in the ICT sector of Pakistan.

This year had 128 nominations for 17 product and 15 service categories with each product or service to be nominated for only one category. A company could participate in a number of categories provided that they each entry is unique.

The Much Awaited – THE NEST I/O

With an aim to help young people achieve their dreams, much to everyone’s attention was the super secret collaboration between P@SHA and Google that marked the special announcements for the launch of TheNest.io – the very 1^st partnership of its kind across the globe by Samsung.

Google experience and knowledge combined with Samsung –“Perfect partnership” says Jehan Ara.

She further mentioned:

Badar Kushnood extended his appreciation for Jehan Ara’s initiative to materialize the NEST in Pakistan.

And Finally the Special Announcement…

As Google’s first on-ground investment in Pakistan, TheNest.io will partner up with 28 TechHub incubators across the globe forging partnerships with many international organizations. With a staggering $1.372 Million in total funding supported by Google, Samsung and US Department of State, P@SHA will launch its technology incubator in Karachi in a few weeks.

Panel Discussions & Speakers

An exciting line up of inspiring speakers treated the event with a wealth of knowledge impartation and learning. The panel discussions with keynote speakers included:

Talent – and where it is going

Moderator – Jehan Ara – President P@SHA

Speakers:

• Owais Zaidi – Director – Platforms & Partnerships CMPak Limited Zong
• Afaque Ahmed – Chairman, Karachi Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship (KITE)
• Nabeel A. Qadeer – Joint Director | Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development Plan 9
• Faizan A. Siddiqi – MD, DGS
• Badar Khushnood – Country Consultant, Google

The Changing Export Landscape

Moderator: Aamir Matin – CEO Trivor Software

Speakers:

• Sultan Hamdani  – CEO Maison Consulting (Middle East)
• Nadeem Elahi – Chairman TRG
• Asim Shaharyar Hussain – MD PSEB
• Jamal A. Khan – CEO Arpatec

Products vs. Services

Moderator: Jawwad Farid –CEO Alchemy Technologies

Speakers:

• Shahzad Shahid, CEO – TPS Pakistan Pvt Ltd
• Syed Ahmad, CEO DPLIT
• Asif Peer, MD Systems Ltd
• Imran Moinuddin – CEO, NexDegree

In Search of Scale

Moderator: Jamal Khan –CEO Arpatech Pvt Ltd.

Speakers:

• Atif Azim, CEO Venture Dive
• Yasser Bashir – CEO Arbisoft
• Zafar Khan – CEO Sofizar
• Dr. Shoab A. Khan – CEO – CARE

In addition to the panel discussions, the event littered with product showcases, announcements, and immense networking opportunities. Such technology event would have never been complete without celebrating amazing product launches for IBM & Infotech. They presented their latest products and services at the ceremony.

P@SHA ICT Award Winners

The flagship event celebrated the technology and innovation success of  the following winners in various product and service categories.

Financial Industry Application

Winner – Avanza Solutions – Unison 2, Runner-up – TPS Pakistan – PayAxis Payment Gateway

Export Growth

Winner – WeRplay, Runner-up – Netsol Technologies

Gender Diversity

Winner – Netsol Technologies , Runner-up – WeRPlay & Bramerz Pvt. Ltd

Social Media

Winner – PakWheels.com , Runner-up – Efro Tech Services

Startup

Winner – DealToday , Runner-up – Eyedeus Lab & Bookme.pk

CSR

Winner – Launchpad Interactive, Runner-up – Lumensoft Technologies

Tertiary Student

Winner – NUST – TRex Tremor Reader, Runner-up – NUST – Smart Steth & NED – AdmonSoft

Application Tools & Platform

Winner – PiLabs – Remote interview, Runner-up – TPS Pakistan – IRIS 4.0

Project Management

Winner – TPS Pakistan, Runner-up – Sefam Pvt. Ltd

Brand Management

Winner – Invest2Innovate, Runner-up – Systems Limited

BPO

Winner – Systems Limited

School Project

Winner – Automatic Papers

Mobile Application

Winner –Bramerz – Olaround, Runner-up – Arbisoft – Intelllistats

Health and Well-being

Winner – CureMD – CureICE, Runner-up – INFOGISTIC-CloudClinik & FINCON Services- mHealth Solution

Inclusion and Community

Winner – Family Educational Services Foundation( FESF)

Service Innovation

Winner – Infogistics Pvt. Ltd

Managed Services

Winner – Viper Technologies, Runner-up – DotZero

Brand Development

Winner – Lumensoft Technologies, Runner-up – Systems Limited & Invest2Innovate

Animation

Winner – Ice Animations Transformers Battle Masters

Research & Development

Winner – NUST – Safer Mines , Runner-up – AKSA – Frame Store Timing Card & BurqStream- Panoscan

Sustainability and Environment

Runner-up – Zaheen Machines – Jul Bujh

Tourism & Hospitality

Winner – EatOye.Pk

Govt. & Public Sector Category

Runner-up – Abacus Consulting- Software System for Pensions & AKSA – Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

Media & Entertainment Technology:

Winner –TechArete and BurqStream-VASI, Runner-up – Eyedeus Labs – Ingrain

E-learning

Winner – Broadway Solutions- Pashto Dictionary, Runner-up – Quest Entertainment – Maktab.pk

Security

Runner-up – Tranchulas -TCloud

Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) – an initiative for the deaf community of Pakistan also grabbed hold of an Android App award at the ceremony.

Peshawar participated for the very first time and it not just surfaced as a winner for e-learning application category, but secured Jehan Ara’s commendable words “It’s great to see innovators applying from Peshawar.”

The winners in regional categories also got an opportunity to be a part of APICTA (Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Award) to compete with entries from across the region.

Sponsors

To support P@SHA’s initiative that is focused toward industry growth, distinguished names from the industry sponsored the event. Amongst the amazing sponsors were:

• InfoTech, IBM, & Zong – Platinum Sponsors
• Plan9 & TPS – Gold Sponsors
• PTCL – Silver Sponsor
• Systems Limited & Care – Bronze Sponsors
• Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) – Government Sponsor
• Arbisoft – Tertiary Student Sponsor

This flagship event got huge interest from several media houses of Pakistan with Happeningpk as Online Partner & TechJuice as Digital Media Partner.

We congratulate all winners and participants.

Let’s shout out once again “We Love the P@SHA ICT Awards!” that year after year celebrates so many great minds, great ideas, and innovators.