Pakistan bags two gold, three silver at ICT awards

Country among the winners at Asia Pacific event.

KARACHI: Pakistan bagged two gold and three silver awards at the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards (APICTA) 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and IT-Enabled Services, Eyedeus Labs Pakistan won gold in the category of Media and Entertainment Technologies for its new product ‘Ingrain’ in a regional contest among 17 economies, fighting for 16 award categories.

The Lahore-based startup got the attention of local and international media last year after the launch of its smartphone app ‘Groopic’, which enables the photographer to be in the picture he has taken, got rave reviews in the tech world.

A Platform for targeted native advertisement in videos, Ingrain is their second product.

Islamabad’s National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) won both the gold and silver prizes in Tertiary Student Category.

Syed Osama Maruf of Nust’s bagged Gold Award for his product ‘Smart Steth’. Dubbed a portable doctor, the app helps a trained health worker with the early detection, and treatment of pneumonia.

Nust’s Fawad Ejaz Bhatti won silver for ‘TRex Tremor Reader’ in the Tertiary Student Category. Claimed by the developer to be the world’s first standalone quantifier, the product is a small, wearable, ergonomic, aesthetic, low-cost and low-power device that quantifies the tremors of a patient – it is characterised by state-of-the-art sensors and wireless technology, a proprietary algorithm and a purpose-built mobile application, the statement says.

RemoteInterview.io and EatOye, the online food portal, each won silver in the categories of Startup and Tourism and Hospitality respectively, said the statement.

An alliance of national ICT organisations – P@SHA in the case of Pakistan – of the member economies, the annual event is meant to promote ICT industry in the region and encourage the development of indigenous ICT solutions for the global market.

National teams from each economy are selected after a rigorous ICT Awards competition in 17 economies including Australia, Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

The delegates from member countries then compete against each other at a three-day regional event judged by industry professionals, technology veterans and thought leaders from the APAC region.

The Pakistani delegation, finalised after the announcement of winners at the PASHA ICT Awards earlier in November, comprised 30 members with 19 technology products competing for the prestigious APICTA Awards. This year, Team Pakistan benchmarked its products against 183 products from the region.

“We are absolutely delighted that these dynamic youngsters have once again held the flag high and made us proud. We have always insisted that the technology sector is vibrant and solution to many of Pakistan’s woes,” the statement quoted P@SHA President Jehan Ara as saying.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2014.

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