The Chairman of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and the Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University (ITU), Dr. Umar Saif has joined the Cabinet the Punjab where he is appointed as an IT advisor to the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif.
It is relevant to mention that this new role equates almost with that of the Provincial Minister. The new responsibility will see Dr. Umar Saif acting as a proactive advisor in the technological transformations in Punjab. Moreover, he will be reporting directly to Shehbaz Sharif with his instrumental proficiency in the field of IT. In addition, one of the key roles of Umar Saif will be to provide relevant suggestions as an IT advisor or provincial cabinet.
The news broke the scene when a gratified Umar Saif tweeted about joining the Punjab Cabinet as an IT advisor. Later, PITB also tweeted and confirmed the news through their official Twitter account.
About Dr. Umar Saif
At present, Dr. Umar Saif is the Chairman at PITB and the Vice Chancellor at ITU. He has been found putting in tremendous amount of hard work on several IT projects. Besides to his credit, he played a leading role in launching Pakistan’s first government incubator, Plan9 and PlanX. In addition, Umar Saif has also rendered his services as a core member of $50 million Project Oxygen at MIT.
A PhD in Computer Science from Cambridge University, Dr. Umar Saif was also honored with Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his unrelenting services. Earlier this year, he was also ranked among the list of top 500 most influential Muslims across the globe. LUMS also offered permanent tenure to Dr. Umar Saif. Subsequently, he became one of the very few professors at the university to be honored with permanent position.
Besides being named among the 35 world’s top young innovators for the year 2011 by MIT Technology Review, Umar Saif also received the MIT Technovator Award in 2008. Furthermore, he was also named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010.