Public cloud services on the rise in Pakistan
Cloud computing market in country expected to reach $1.5b this year

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2406357/public-cloud-services-on-the-r...

According to a report of IDC, public cloud spending in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.5% from 2019 to 2024, reaching $124.5 billion in 2024.

Another report of Gartner suggests that the public cloud services market in the Asia-Pacific region will grow by 23.7% in 2021 and reach $124.6 billion, up from $100.8 billion in 2020.

In Pakistan, the adoption of public cloud services is also on the rise. Allied Market Research, in its report, says the cloud computing market in Pakistan is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 19.1% from 2017 to 2023.

“These numbers highlight the increasing importance of public cloud for businesses in Asia and Pakistan, as they embrace digital transformation and seek to leverage the benefits of cloud computing to enhance their competitiveness and drive growth,” remarked Azam.

Cloud computing provides organistions with the ability to rapidly scale resources up or down, as needed, allowing them to handle changes in demand more effectively.

According to an IDC study, organisations that use cloud computing are able to handle 2.5 times more application workloads than those that rely on the traditional IT infrastructure.

Talking about the security of public cloud, Azam cited a Forrester Research report which said that 80% of security breaches involving the public cloud infrastructure are caused by customer misconfiguration or mistakes.

“This shows that while cloud providers have strong security measures in place, organisations also have a responsibility to ensure their data is secure in the cloud,” he added.

Overall, the importance of public cloud services for businesses in Asia and Pakistan cannot be overstated, as it provides them with the ability to innovate, collaborate, and scale with ease, while reducing costs and improving security and reliability.

“Public cloud offers a pay-as-you-go model and the ability to scale resources up or down, as needed, which makes it easier for organisations to handle fluctuating workloads without having to invest in additional hardware or infrastructure. In contrast, private cloud requires organisations to invest in and maintain their own infrastructure which can be costly. Private cloud offers more control over data and infrastructure, which can be beneficial for organisations with strict security requirements.”

NADRA launches Nishan Pakistan platform, lets startups leverage digital identity stack | Biometric Update


https://www.biometricupdate.com/202305/nadra-launches-nishan-pakist...

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has launched the Beta version of Nishan Pakistan, a platform to enable small and medium sized businesses in the country make the most of its digital ID stack.

NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik said in a tweet that Nishan Pakistan is a game-changer platform designed to empower commercial startups and young entrepreneurs with secure and contactless biometric verification through secure data sharing with NADRA.

He said the platform, which offers a world of endless possibilities and a plethora of use cases for businesses including customer identification through biometrics, is the first of its kind online, secure and open digital identity authentication platform in the country.

Malik added that the platform offers an API gateway and a cutting-edge sandbox that enables a smooth integration with other systems and will provide a set of services that will help businesses with “a seamless, consistent and connected experience,” and also contribute to ongoing efforts of making Pakistan a truly digital nation.

The official said in another message that the novelty will set the stage for the kind of market-creating innovation that ignites “the economic engine of a country, creates jobs and augments profits that fund public services and promote change culture in the society.”

Nishan Pakistan has been rolled out for user acceptance testing and NADRA is looking out for feedback to improve the functionality of the platform and also help in its plans of creating a strong digital ID system.

Subscriptions to the platform are opened and interested businesses can submit applications and wait for the approval process to be completed in 10-15 days, according to a promotional video.

In April, NADRA announced the market launch of the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS)) it developed domestically.

How the mobile phone is transforming Pakistan - Newspaper - DAWN.COM


https://www.dawn.com/news/1448782

How are we navigating our daily lives, connecting with our surroundings, equipped with the mobile phone?
Faiza Shah Published December 2, 2018

Mehreen Kashif from Larkana, for example, manages a business of hand-embroidered apparel and bed linen without leaving her home. It has been four years since she launched her work-from-home enterprise through a Facebook page and then contacting clients through WhatsApp.

“Women are not allowed to leave home here,” she explains. Owning a mobile phone has been a game-changer, though, as she has been able to expand her business over only four years and that, too, countrywide. Most of her clients are from Punjab, where she also orders fabric from. She has it shipped from Al Karam textile mills in Faisalabad. She simply puts up new designs and items on her WhatsApp status and the orders from her phone contacts pour in. She estimates about 4,000 repeat customers but also claims that they are “unlimited” and “it is almost getting hard to keep up with the orders.”

Mehreen caters to customised orders as well. She has 30 women working for her, and has provided two of them with mobile phones as, “it is easier to share pictures of the designs they work with.” Her effort is to seek out embroiderers with skill but also those who are truly in need of money. And this is a driving force behind managing her business; the ability to employ women who have talent but are house-bound under the dictates of rural traditions.

“They just come to my house for work,” she says of her employees. “The phone has facilitated us living in such an area where women are not allowed to leave their houses. It has helped me because I also do not have permission to go out.”


A similar story is echoed by Salma Ilyas, who runs a kitchen business in Karachi to provide home-cooked meals to “a young professional class”. Mother to four young ones, her husband owned a small business of selling paper. One fine day, the business got wrapped up as the owner of the building housing the paper shop decided to remove all businessmen from the building. With no backup plan, with no storage space for the bundles of paper already bought in wholesale, the Ilyases were in trouble.

“One day, I just cooked achaar gosht and put up pictures on my Facebook wall,” narrates Salma. “People started liking the photos and asked how much for a plate. That sparked an idea to sell what I cook. That week I made almost as much as my husband would make every week in his paper business.”

Things suddenly changed financially for the Ilyases as Salma dragged the family out of its quagmire. With some savings, she upgraded her cooking range, bought better utensils, and went full-time. Her husband now receives orders on WhatsApp and handles the food delivery component of the business. The paper from the old business was sold onwards to someone else. And as Salma puts it, her marriage and domestic harmony seems to be at an all-time high because of WhatsApp.

What is interesting is how travel and restaurant deliveries — 31 percent and 24 percent consumers respectively purchasing within the category — are driving the growth for the evolving mobile industry in Pakistan.”

As with the Ilyases, the mobile phone has brought together the service provider and client, almost eliminating the middleman entirely. Business cards used to be a thing of yesteryear, now it’s the WhatsApp number. The service provider, such as an electrician, a cook, or a car mechanic, gives their mobile number to clients along with a fair bit of reliability. As clients have a mobile number of the electrician or AC repairman, they can catch a hold of him pretty much anytime during working hours. In other words, phones have broadened opportunities for recreation and business alike.