By Minahil Makhdoom
ISLAMBAD: The Ministry of Information Technology on Sunday announced the top three innovators of the National Education Challenge during a ceremony held via video link. Secretary IT & Telecom Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui graced the event as chief guest on behalf of Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Amin Ul Haq. The challenge was launched on 18th of this month by the Ignite – MoITT through NIC Karachi to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 outbreak on education and literacy.
The top solution, (Project Name) that promises to solve (solution one-liner) clinched Rs. 1.5 million. The first runner-up, (Project Name) was awarded Rs. 1 million for their solution to (solution one-liner) and second runner-up, (Project Name) received 0.5 million for (solution one-liner). The prize money has been awarded to these ingenious ideas as SEED Funding so that the young founders can further develop their products/solutions.
The National Education Challenge received 150 applications from across Pakistan. 15 online training and mentoring sessions were conducted during the application phase to motivate innovators, educators, and technologists to participate in the challenge.
Renowned tech educationists and industrialists Judged 150 ideas to select top 25 ideas which were further mentored by industry leaders to prepare them for pitching in the semi-final which was held on 26-27 June 2020. 10 ideas made to the grand finale to compete for the top 3 position.
In his message, the Honorable Federal Minister for IT & Telecom, Amin ul Haq lauded the youth for coming up innovative solutions that are designed to get the modern educational tool within the reach of all strata of society. He also congratulated Ignite and NIC Karachi for conducting a meaningful online – hackathon.
Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Secretary IT & Telecom said that we are geared up to transform every sector by implementing 4th Industrial Wave Tech. We should organize more innovation challenges and sprints to inspire the spirit of creating new solutions that can counter the adverse effects of COVID19 in Pakistan.
Syed Junaid Imam, CEO Ignite congratulated the winners and hoped to see them utilizing the SEED grants for developing their products/solutions with a meaningful impact. The Director NIC Karachi Shahjahan Chaudhary said that we are physically locked down but we can use our creative and critical thinking skills to technologies and solutions that can revert the damages caused by pandemic.
