Lahore: Senior Huawei officials warmly welcomed Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her delegation when they reached to meet Huawei officials in China. She welcomed Huawei’s partnership with Punjab; and invited them to make substantial investments in Nawaz Sharif IT City. They reached an agreement to train 1,000 youth of Punjab as Huawei Master Trainers, besides imparting AI training to 300 women trainers from Punjab. They also reviewed a proposal to establish an Artificial Intelligence Delivery Unit in Punjab; besides establishing 06 data centers and a sovereign data center at Nawaz Sharif IT City. They also reached an agreement on a strategic partnership with Huawei to make Punjab an AI-enabled province; besides a discussion on the importance of an effective government enterprise coordination mechanism.
Chief Minister Punjab welcomed Huawei’s collaboration in smart cities, command centers, healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing. They reviewed a roadmap for AI, cloud technologies, digital infrastructure, talent development and smart public services in Punjab; besides a cooperation on individual technology projects and digital transformation ecosystem. They reached an sgreement to appoint a focal person to strengthen cooperation between Huawei and Government of Pakistan. She appreciated Huawei’s commitment to supporting Punjab’s digital transformation; and said that taking Punjab forward in the field of Artificial Intelligence is their top priority. She added that.Punjab is the most active province in Pakistan and South Asia; and can contribute to economic growth, innovation, employment and improved public services. She highlighted that Punjab government is making extensive use of technology to improve performance, transparency, decision-making and quality of public services, She noted that talent development and inclusive access to technology are key pillars of Punjab’s strategy; and strategic partnerships with leading global technology companies can play an important role in building a digitally empowered, active, innovative and citizen-centric Punjab.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said that cloud computing, digital infrastructure and locally developed AI models will be developed in Punjab. Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on AI Ali Dar briefed the meeting on Punjab’s AI Office. He said that it is for the first time that an effective use of AI is being ensured in healthcare, education, infrastructure and governance; as Punjab is effectively working on the data layer and digitalization. He added that Punjab has tremendous opportunities with 65% of its population being youth; and Punjab has become the first province to use AI technology for heart transplantation. He underscored that by 2029, Punjab will have an AI-connected and integrated system in South Asia; as Artificial Intelligence is being taught as a compulsory subject in government educational institutions. He noted that a pilot project aimed at creating market opportunities for students through AI has been successfully completed; and AI support is proving effective in the Safe City Authority, agriculture, traffic management and other sectors; and Punjab is the first province in Pakistan to establish an AI Office. He welcomed technical assistance from China in AI-related matters; as Pakistan is the fourth-largest country in the world in terms of freelancers. He highlighted that Punjab government is providing AI training not only to government officers and officials but also to cabinet members; and a four-layer data center will be established at Nawaz Sharif IT City. Huawei’s Senior Executive.said that Huawei will continue working with Punjab to advance digital transformation and sustainable development. –PR
