IT Minister holds talks with Cisco officials; discusses possible collaboration

The IT Minister of Pakistan has held talks with officials from Cisco to discuss possible collaborations between the government and the multinational technology giant.

Held earlier today, the meeting was attended by the Global Telecom Policy Cisco Vice President, Dr.Robert Pepper, Government and Regulatory Affairs Vice President Pastora Velero, Cisco Country Head Naveed Qazi, a member of the Pakistani IT Ministry, HR Tahir Mushtaq, and the State IT Minister, Anusha Rehman, herself. The main topic for discussion was of possible collaborations between the government and Cisco in numerous areas of technology and to form a public-private Pakistan to encourage the digitization of Pakistan.

“Pakistan is steering towards an enabling eco-system where the technology giants of the world are looking at Pakistan as a potential hub of technology and innovation due to its highly talented and cost effective human resource capital”, said Rahman.

She also stated that,
“We believe that to achieve our vision of Digital Pakistan,(a) public-private partnership is the way forward. That’s why we are engaging the key stakeholders in the equation. Cisco being a big tech company is also keen to accelerate the pace of digitisation for socio-economic development of Pakistan.”

Cisco is a multinational tech-giant, mainly known for designing, manufacturing and selling of networking equipment and Pakistan can benefit a lot from partnering with a technology leader like Cisco and take advantage of their expertise in key areas.

The IT Minister has been pretty active recently in trying to modernize the Pakistani government, also introducing a number of programs specifically designed at encouraging women in Pakistan. She also initiated a programme for disadvantaged girls, giving them access to learning computer science and economic opportunities. Her work has been recognized by the United Nations as well, winning her the “GEM-Tech Global Achievers 2015” award.