PITB to take over Pindi IT hub

Memorandum of Understanding on 15-year-lease after Eidul Azha

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) will take over management and operations of the information technology (IT) hub for freelancers established under the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC), with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the 15-year lease to be signed after Eidul Azha.

In April, Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chattha had said that the building, hailed as Rawalpindi’s first freelance IT park, would be made functional within two weeks. However, the inauguration was stalled due to lack of expertise and personnel.

It has now been decided to hand over the building – equipped with the same facilities as the Arfa Karim Randhawa IT Park in Lahore – to the PITB. The PITB will pay a monthly rent of Rs950,000 to the municipal corporation.

The PITB chairman and the Rawalpindi commissioner will sign the MoU regarding it after Eid.

The park – spread over four kanals – will provide working space at modest charges. It has a capacity to accommodate 450 people. It will be connected to the international business networks on the same pattern at Lahore’s Arfa Karim Park, which was the inspiration behind its design.

Young men and women will have the opportunity to develop their projects related to IT, develop their skills and come up with innovative solutions. The park will be open round the clock, seven days a week to facilitate freelancers who often work for clients in North America and the Pacific.

Those allotted space at the IT park would be charged Rs10,000 per month, with the facilities including internet and general office space. Meanwhile, one-time users would be allowed to use the facility for nominal charges.

The IT hub was developed by converting a community centre in Chamanzar Colony, behind the Moti Mahal Cinema, adjoining Murree Road. Its expansion and construction, including the new design, were said to cost Rs65 million. This cost included the development of a link road connecting the park to Murree Road with separate points of entry and exit for the park.

The RMC said that the park would provide a steady stream of income to the department while providing educated and skilled youth associated with IT sector opportunities and space to work on opportunities. The hub was also envisioned as a melting point for ideas and research.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2023.