Senior Officials of Gilgit-Baltistan Government, representatives of AKDN and SCO visited the construction site of Hunza’s first state-of-the-art IT Park
Chitral Times Report
Gilgit: – Senior Minister GB, Col. Rtd. Abaid Ullah Baig, Col. Imran Mansoor, Sector Commander, SCO Gilgit, Hafiz Sherali, President, Aga Khan Council for Pakistan, visited the project site of Hunza’s first Information Technology (IT) Park in Nasirabad, Hunza to review the construction progress. Iqbal Walji, Chairman, Aga Khan Foundation, Akhtar Iqbal, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan (AKFP), Jamil Uddin, CEO, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Sherzad Khan, Coordinator GBC, Air Commodore Waqar Ahmed, Director Operations and External Affairs, (AKFP), along with other officials of SCO were also present. During the visit Jibran Shifa, Manager, Infrastructure Projects, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, briefed the group on the progress of the construction of the IT Park.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation of the IT Park. Established jointly by Special Communications Organization (SCO) of the Government of Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan (AKFP), the IT Park in Hunza will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure with un-interrupted power supply, high speed internet facility and a co-working space for small and growing businesses, start-ups, freelancers, and chamber of commerce.
SCO is the leading 4G tele-communications company in Gilgit-Baltistan with the largest network. SCO has been the pioneer in establishing Software Technology Park and Incubation Centre to digitize the GB region. The IT Park will strengthen cooperation between SCO, AKF and other Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) agencies with the shared objectives of sustainable socio-economic development of GB through reliable internet and telecom infrastructure. It will enable the youth of GB to prepare for the digital-driven future of work opportunities in areas such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other emerging areas. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services and global software solutions from such IT Parks will boost local economic development in GB. Strengthening the IT infrastructure will open access to increased knowledge for developing digital competencies and lead to global networking and collaboration for remote work, online marketplaces and other national and global business opportunities.
