The second Canada-Pakistan ICT Forum brought together Canadian and Pakistani business and technology communities to network and create synergy amongst each other in Canada at DMZ Center, Sony Performance Center, and IBM Innovation Lab from 24th to 28th September.
Canada-Pakistan ICT Forum is an annual event that provides opportunities for like-minded local and international experts to connect and interact. This year the event attracted great participation with a delegation of 10 Pakistani companies from multidisciplinary backgrounds offering services in SAP, BPO, Blockchain, IOT, E-commerce, VoIP, ERP, Point of Sale, Mobile applications and many others.
The Pakistani delegation was headed by Zohaib Khan, Senior Vice Chairman P@SHA and CEO A2Z Creatorz. The delegation comprised of the following companies:
- Excellence Delivered
- Genetech Solutions
- A2Z Creatorz
- Abtach
- Digital Softs
- Coeus Solutions
- Systems Junction
- Airband
- Interactive Cells
- VOIPterminator
The four-day event was jointly organized by Pegasus Consultancy Canada with the collaboration of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), PSEB, TDAP, and SIL as supporting partners. Seven keynote speakers graced the event,
- Dean Hopkins, Chief Growth Officer at OneEleven
- Edwin Frondozo, Customer-first Product Marketing Engineer
- Melloney Campbell, Certified Project Management Professional, Strategic OmniChannel Marketing Executive
- Jodi Kovitz, CEO and Founder #MovetheDial
- Rizwan Tufail, Head of Leadership Program at Mozilla Foundation
- Dr. Aijaz Qureshi, IT Professional Fortune 500 Blue-chip International Companies
- Ria Lupton, Head Of Marketing at Growth Genius
In the ICT Pre-Networking Forum, the Pakistani delegation was welcomed by Deputy Consul General of Pakistan in Toronto Wajid Hassan Hashmi and Member Provincial Parliament Kaleed Rasheed. The latter assured his maximum support and cooperation for promoting business ties between Canada and Pakistan.
The delegates participated in Elevate Canada Techfest, the country’s largest technology, and innovation festival interacting with various IT professionals from Canada and across the globe. The delegation also participated in Elevate Educate. The participants also visited ORION, a non-for-profit organization empowering Ontario researchers, educators, and innovators through a digital infrastrustrucre. They were welcomed by Chief Information Security Officer Farooq Naiyar.
Later, the delegation participated in Elevate Talent at MaRS Center and networked at the IBM Innovation Lab. The delegates were briefed about the tech companies and startups in the lab as well as opportunities in Markham and business practices in the GTA area. Mayor of the Markham, Frank Scarpitti graced the occasion by his presence and highlighted the pace and importance of tech development for the city.
Zohaib Khan, Delegate Head and Senior Vice Chairman said,
“The Pakistani Delegation at the Canada-Pakistan Forum 2018 is really looking forward to strengthening its ties with the Canadian IT sector. The reception of Pakistani delegates in Canada has been more welcoming than ever and we can surely see the interest building up for collaborations in the near future.”
