Pakistan – The Next Technology Hub
The world will need 80M software engineers by 2030 to keep up with the technological pace. There will be a shortage of estimated 30M technologists, and with the Russia/Ukraine war, this gap will only grow. With India up to its neck and talent gobbled up by more prominent companies; Pakistan is the only logical destination for technology resource hiring. Pakistan has universities, advanced infrastructure, government policies, and existing 300,000 talent growing rapidly by multitudes. With all these in place, Pakistan is today’s destination for finding tech talent. With Zigron’s past and current experience of serving startups to multi-billion dollar organizations; Zigron is here to bridge this gap for the companies facing a shortage of skilled tech workers today and in the future.
Why is Pakistan being termed Asia’s next Tech Hub?
Pakistan is the 3rd largest IT-enabled services exporter, with more than 40 percent software development. Pakistan is continuously creating high-tech industries and expanding its cyber security, system integration, data center, and IT outsourcing, i.e., AI, ML, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Engineering. The biggest reason of all is that Pakistan is home to more than 144 universities; with some top-ranked world universities like NUST, GIKI, FAST, LUMS, UET, NED, etc., offering IT and Engineering degree programs that have so far produced over 300,000 IT professionals with expertise in AI/ML, Data Scientists, Full Stack, DB, DevOps, Designers, UI/UX, Embedded, Firmware Engineers, etc. In addition, they have been producing hardcore engineers like Electrical, CAD, Structural, Solar, Wind, Civil, Geotechnical, etc.
Pakistani universities are on the mission to make world-class talent and continue to do so with skills unmatched and dexterity unprecedented. Sky being the limit, skilled Pakistani talent is all you need to grow into a giant organization with technology expertise like AI, ML, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, Cloud, etc. With all the efforts to further support and advance these industries; Govt is expecting 50 billion USD annual exports from the technology sector by 2030. With a lot to offer in the tech industry; Pakistani engineers are fully equipped to play their vital role in helping companies grow and succeed. Zigron also takes huge pride in being a pioneer in offering top-of-scale IT services and Engineering talent globally over the past 15 years and continues to enrich the IT world with its state-of-the-art solutions and services.
Pakistan’s IT exports are at an all-time high, with over a 30 percent growth in the last eight months.
Pakistan has made significant successes in IT exports and crossed a mark of 2 billion USD last year. Although numbers are good; there is still a significantly undiscovered IT talent that is yet to be unleashed and utilized to the full extent. Seeing the tech-minded youth, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative; focusing on connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship to further upskill the unexplored talent. The government of Pakistan has taken the forefront to uplift tech minds and help them grow by establishing a Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) to develop a high-tech economy for rapid growth.
Prime Minister Khan is taking full ownership of this initiative; and he promises to make sure that he takes the IT and Engineering talent-rich nation to new heights in the global market. As per STZA; “These zones will create thousands of jobs for youth, attract foreign investors and global companies, boost IT-related exports, generate a high-skilled workforce, and develop Pakistan’s IT industry and entrepreneurship ecosystem.” Job creation, human capital development, technology transfer, increasing IT exports, incentivizing import substitution, and foreign direct investment are some of the broad-based goals of STZA.
With all these in place; IT exports will double to $4 billion in a year and will double every year. Last but not least, Research centers are playing a vital role in polishing their skills, which are full of innovative ideas and an urge to impact the IT sector.
The Rise in Pakistani Tech Startups
2021 was a phenomenal year for IT exports, which helped raise 330 million USD, about four times the previous year. Many global venture capital firms have invested in Pakistan for the first time; including Kleiner Perkins, an early investor in Google and Amazon.com Inc. As Venture Capital investments have started to rise, there has been a huge upsurge in Tech Startups. Some of the renowned local and global VC companies that have invested in Pakistani tech startups are Global Ventures, 500 Startups, First Round Capital, Acumen, Fatima Ventures, A15, 47 Ventures, DotZero, TPL e-Ventures, CresVentures, TMT Ventures, HMI Ventures, and GlowfishLabs.
Opportunities and Future Trends
Technology in the modern world is evolving at a rapid pace; enabling faster change and progress, causing an acceleration of the rate of knots. Below are some of the top technology trends predicted to take the world further.
- Though the IoT industry is relatively new and yet to take center stage; Pakistani IT talent promises to upscale more enterprises with their services.
- From (2018 – 2023); renewables such as solar PV, wind, hydropower, and bio-energy are expected to meet about 70% of global electricity generation growth. By 2023, the global electricity demand will be met by hydropower (16%), wind (6%), solar PV (4%), and bioenergy (3%).
- 5G technology will be leading the hyper-connected world with an ever-increasing number of networked things communicating with each other. As of this; it will create a multitude of new IoT-oriented and data-driven business opportunities and commercial usage scenarios that exploit the real-time data potential.
- Cloud automation services will be a $12.38B market, and cloud management tools will grow to $21 billion by 2022.
- Blockchain is one of the most well-known technologies in business right now; and has the potential to drive major changes and create new opportunities across industries; from banking and cybersecurity to intellectual property and healthcare.
- Nearly 95 percent of the CIOs, CTOs, and technology leaders surveyed by IEEE agreed that AI would drive the majority of innovation across almost every industry sector in the next one to five years.
Conclusion
With the solid infrastructure in place, high-speed connectivity, universities producing hundreds of thousands of world-class engineers, startups raising hundreds of millions of dollars, and government-friendly policies; Pakistan is the next technology hub not only for tech resources but also for tech entrepreneurs and tech investors.
With all the basics completed, companies like Zigron are taking center stage and have the talent to offer with a state of the art skills to help bridge the gap of 30M tech resources related to any niche of the industry, i.e., Energy, Healthcare, Financial, Insurance, Security, and more. We at Zigron have been empowering US-based, Middle Eastern, and European businesses across different industries, especially IoT, Smart Energy, ERP, Big Data Analytics, R&D, and Cloud Engineering, in addition to hardcore engineering like Civil, Geotechnical, Solar, Wind, Project, CAD, and Electrical engineers. Please feel free to contact us at sales@zigron.com, and let’s collaborate to innovate and scale your business.