Remarkable growth expected in IT industry: experts

Information Technology sector sees remarkable growth but not a priority for students anymore.

KARACHI: Information technology (IT) experts see remarkable growth in the IT industry but say that students are not opting for higher studies in the field as they did in the early 2000s, when the sector was the top choice for many students.

Like many others, the IT industry of the country seems to argue that the public sector is not giving them due importance. Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), a private sector association of IT companies, President Jehan Ara told The Express Tribune that their mandate is to do whatever it takes to strengthen the Pakistani IT and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector.

She said, “People in our industry want to rely on themselves instead of the public sector. We help each other as individuals and companies. We try to work together and create opportunities for each other.”

Businessmen in any sector do not wait for government support, said Ara. They continue to rely on their own efforts and do whatever they can to scale their companies and to make a difference for themselves and for their employees, she added.

P@SHA tries to provide the necessary support and acts as a magnet for those who want to pool their energies for the benefit of the industry, she continued. Ara said that despite challenges, the industry has continued to grow, flourish and innovate.

“The worldwide recession has impacted all sectors including ours, but things have started to turn around and many companies are reporting positive growth,” she said. “Having said that, I still think that there are certain areas where the government will have to play a role and infrastructure is one of them,” she stressed.

“Our telecom and internet structure is good but not good enough. It needs to be more efficient,” she said, adding that the power infrastructure is in a sorry state. The power infrastructure needs to be more reliable and less expensive in order to push down the cost of doing business, she stated. Regarding the modern IT parks in country, she said that there are still no IT parks in the true sense of the word in Pakistan.

Referring to security issues, Ara acknowledged that Pakistan needs to work on improving its security and image as a country. Image-building efforts could have been better with continuous campaigns highlighting the great things that are happening in Pakistan, she added. There is no reason why companies should have to sell Pakistan in addition to selling their companies, their expertise and their products and services, she added.

The industry is doing everything possible in marketing the country, she went on to say. “Our people have put up backup power and got several connectivity options. We are also training our people and trying to create an image of Pakistan that is different from what people are used to seeing. We are not just sitting back and complaining but we would certainly be doing better with a little assistance,” she added.

When asked about the future of IT industry she said, “I see the local IT industry growing by leaps and bounds. There is so much talent, creativity, passion and innovation in this sector that nothing can stop it from thriving”.

Replying a question, she said that this is the only industry that doesn’t grow in isolation. It helps other industries to grow, to improve their processes, to be more efficient and more cost effective.

“If there is one sector that can boost the gross domestic product and the economy of this country, it is the IT sector,” she said. Giving an example, she said that a small company in Lahore with 70 people sitting in a small office is generating $25 million in annual revenue.

Regarding human resource she said, “Not enough time or effort has been put into our education system. This needs to change. For knowledge-based industries, growth depends on the availability of skilled workers.”

Students look elsewhere

Nadeem A Malik, the vice-president of InfoTech Private Limited, said that top students are not opting for IT education, which is a cause of concern for the IT industry. He said that since 2001, when the IT industry was hit hard by a saturated local market, top students went for other options. Although the industry regained strength in later years, students have never returned to this field which is now hurting this industry, he added.

Recently, Pakistani technology companies won seven technology awards in six different categories in the 10th International Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) held in Malaysia. One of the Pakistani companies won three awards, which is a record in APICTA history, Malik informed.

APICTA is an international awards program which provides networking and product benchmarking opportunities to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs from 16 countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Malik, who was also one of the Pakistani judges in APICTA’s panels, said that local companies are doing some outstanding work but the country’s image and security conditions are hampering growth. “We need to improve our perception abroad,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2010.