Tech expert dives into big data potential in Pakistan

Global telcos are picking best Pakistani brains to adopt best practices

LAHORE: The telecom operators (telcos) currently working in Pakistan are fast becoming an example even for telcos of developed countries, which are catching up with some of their best business practices, placing Pakistan among the top tier in the global telecommunication sector, said Teradata Corporation Chief Technology Officer Stephen Brobst.

The reasons, he said, are clear - Pakistani telcos are investing and competing with each other in technology and data analytics with multinational companies always leading the competition and making the market’s overall structure efficient and sophisticated.



“Globally, telcos are our biggest clients, generating a major chunk of the company’s revenues by efficiently using data analytics. The presence of extreme competition within multinationals has pushed the country among top-tier ranks. Global telcos are now picking the best Pakistani brains to adopt some of their best practices,” Brobst said in an interview with The Express Tribune.



Teradata Corporation is a US-based company dealing in analytical data platforms and analytics solutions.

The company is also working with some government departments like the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) analysing the data to identify population demographics, support intelligence and investigation and other such cases.

Teradata also provides analytics to governments for tax compliance at corporate as well as individual levels. The company had worked with the Punjab government in the healthcare sector.

Brobst said they jointly worked with the province to prevent the dengue virus and have successfully used those findings in other countries as well.



The core of this technology is analysing the data rather than keeping it for record. “We live in a digital era which means data is the new currency. Traditionally, a lot of data technology was for record keeping or transaction processing, whereas we are based on analytics, how to understand people’s behaviour, network planning and how to make better decisions based on the data,” he added.

Brobst further said the country can use this technology to streamline its energy issues, banking system, large-scale manufacturing, healthcare and education.

In power companies, smart metering is the solution which can exactly detect how much data is consumed at which hours unlike analogue meters where one has to visit all the meters in order to analyse.

The company is looking to work with K-Electric, but the power company faces issues in installing the smart metering system. He said once K-Electric manages to get the exact data, then they will work with them for further innovation via data analytics.

“This will help in eliminating electricity theft and energy crisis, the world is benefiting to some extent, however, this technology will start emerging in Pakistan in the next five years.”

“We are now in the 21st century and the world has only three options now in terms of doing business - either you are in the data business or you will be in the data business or you will be out of business,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.

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