There you go – we had our first Consuldents Fostering Innovation Summit (FIS) at the Bahria University and we are super excited to thank all our partners and supporters, especially the U.S. Embassy and the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) for generously funding our summit and giving us an opportunity to showcase this summit.

Consuldents won this grant from the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) and we want to extend our gratitude to them for sponsoring the two Summits. Watch out for 28^th September 2018 Robotics and AI Summit at NUST that is going to create a benchmark for our next Fostering Innovation Summits.

We would also like to thank Bahria University for giving us the opportunity to hold this summit there as well as Bahria University, IEEE society. The IEEE society managed the logistics of the event and we are very proud to partner with them for this endeavor. Thank you to Dr. Shahza Khalid, Director ORIC at the Bahria University for encouraging us and Consuldents hope to have a future ongoing partnership with the Bahria University.

We would also like to thank IBM and especially their Country Business Manager, Mr. Ghazanfar Ali, for especially taking time out and speaking to kids about Big Data and Fintech and what opportunities awaits students for the future.

About the Summit

Consuldents believe that the world in which we are growing up will witness a radical transformation from an old industrial economy to the one which is riding on the new wave of innovation – primarily technology, automation and globalization. The near future will see robot suits that will allow paraplegics to walk, designer genome that will melt away certain forms of cancer and computer code that will be used as an international currency along with newer forms of data analysis that will have large predictive powers. Such wave of innovation and technology will provide newer ways to live and even newer ways to work, socialize and intermingle with fellow human beings. At a cornerstone of fourth industrial revolution, we wanted to execute this activity for graduate students of Pakistan to learn about the new industries of the future, showcase their grass root innovations in these areas, listen to the experts in these fields and better prepare themselves to work for and in the changing landscape of future industrial knowledge.

Summit Pictures

From a cyber security standpoint big data has ushered in new possibilities in terms of analytics and security solutions to protect data and prevent future cyber-attacks. But just as big data has opened up new possibilities for cyber security teams, it has also given cyber criminals the opportunity to access mass quantities of sensitive and personal information through the use of advanced technologies. Consuldents discussed new avenues to protect from cyber security and we are thankful to our Bahria University delegates to discuss the future challenges and opportunities.

We welcome all the delegates from the U.S. Embassy and Bahria University students to participate in the Summit.

To stay competitive, modern companies are increasingly looking to leverage big data. As a variety of young companies look to go to market with innovative, transformative products and services, data solutions can help pave the way to success. Big data has become a massive asset in industries ranging from marketing and advertising to inventory management and customer services. Technological advances in areas such as big data storage, machine learning, and data science can help get companies off the ground. We are thankful to Mr. Ghazanfar Ali, Country General Manager, IBM as he discusses the future of Big Data in Pakistan in this insightful discussion and what startups need to do today to leverage consumer insights and finding their fulcrum.

We all want to change the world, but it’s the world outside in which digital banks are winning market share. Can new digital entrants with limited experience in Pakistan have the potential to challenge large behemoth traditional FIs? What is the future of banking and are we heading in the right direction? Consuldents would sincerely like to thank Mr. Noman Azhar as he discussed the future of digital banking with the audience and how Pakistani students can innovate amidst future challenges.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer specific, time-bound, and quantifiable targets in sync with Pakistan’s national development plans and priorities. However, with over 17 SDGs—many of which require disaggregation by location, sex, gender, age, income, and other relevant dimensions—collecting the necessary granular data to monitor and devise interventions of all SDGs and targets is no easy feat. How Big Data can help transform Pakistan’s development objectives and what are the areas where Big Data can effectively provide answers to myriad social problems that we face today?

We are thankful for an insightful talk by Assistant Country Director, UNDP Pakistan, Mr. Shakeel Ahmad, as he speaks on Big Data and the role of SDGs in Pakistan’s context.

There are 2 billion globally without bank accounts, and Pakistan is no different – we have a gap here at home. Financial wellness is a major piece in ensuring a healthy economy, so what we need to do to ensure that no one gets left behind.

Tughral’s message in this insightful discussion was to listen to the people who are the bottom of the Pyramid before designing any intervention for them. Financial inclusion can only be understood when people understand what Financial Exclusion is. Thank you Tughar Ali, FINCA for this insightful conversation.

Last, we are thankful to our event partners, the U.S. Embassy in Partnership with the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) for extending their support for this event.