A webinar discussing why Pakistan needs a tech disruption and a digital ecosystem
Jointly hosted by EMEC-IoBM and iwant.pk on Saturday, July 25, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a clear digital divide. Companies that already invested in digital operating models have managed relatively well as compared to those who did not have such a strategy. In fact, for many businesses, the continuity of operations critically depends on their digital capabilities.
To discuss this scenario taking over the corporate world of Pakistan, a webinar was organized on the topic “Digital Innovation for Entrepreneurs & Businesses in Pakistan.” The Entrepreneurship and Management Excellence Center (EMEC), IoBM, and iwant.pk jointly hosted this session on Saturday, July 25, 2020. The moderators of this webinar were Mr. Imran Khalil Naseer, former Chairman, Pak-UK Business Council, and Ms. Fariha Shah, IoBM alumnus, and former Regional Marketing Manager, PepsiCo MEA.
The speakers included Mr. Asif Jafry, an IoBM alumnus who is the Founding CEO, E-Ocean, and Momentum; Mr. Javaid Iqbal, CEO, TransformX; Mr. Javaid Ahmed, Senior Fellow, Innovation and Strategy, IoBM, and Mr. Ahsan Jabbar, CEO, iwant.pk, who is also an IoBM alumnus.
Mr. Asif Jafri said that his company has been behind many digital endeavors, the recent one being the Covid-19 precautionary message that we listen to when making a phone call through our mobile phones. He said that digital innovation in the telecommunication sector enabled such a public service message to be disseminated across mobile phones in Pakistan. He shared an interesting insight that nearly 165 million cellular devices are operational in Pakistan. Out of this number, 65 to 70 million devices are smartphones. He said that startups have the advantage to turn these 65 to 70 million smartphone users as their customers. Moreover, according to Mr. Jafri, the 100 million subscribers who do not have a smartphone have the potential of switching over to becoming smartphone users to avail digital services and becoming a part of the digital ecosystem. He said that the government can play a part in enhancing Pakistan’s digital economy by giving a discount to those customers who are buying a smartphone for the first time.
Mr. Javaid Iqbal was of the view that technology disruption is happening in every industry. It is unprecedented to witness how companies related to transportation, home delivery, banks, education, and telecommunication have changed their business models because of technology. He said that all digital tech players are either providing the infrastructure and applications to promote tech-based companies or are educating the customers on how to use such applications. He said that the customers are also accepting and appreciating such enterprises. Mr. Iqbal said that we are observing two trends. The quest to know what digitization means and how to implement it. He said that while banks, healthcare providers, and telecommunication companies have stepped up to digitize their services, they are not exactly sure how to pursue it. This gap must be filled to streamline operations.
Mr. Javaid Ahmed appreciated the intent of holding this informative webinar. During his talk, he pondered on how digital disruptions help new startups and existing small businesses to create new business models. He said that digital disruption in an organization occurs when the business model and the target audience of the organization is changed. Digital disruption also facilitates an organization to become competitively aggressive and agile. Mr. Ahmed said that digital disruptions do create a new target audience and a new model of revenue and cost as a result of following a new approach towards completing business operations. He asked the participants and the viewers to reflect upon the difference between a company becoming competitively aggressive and agile vs. the company experiencing a disruption in its business model.
Mr. Ahsan Jabbar shared that technology disruption is not an isolated event or a one-time occurrence. It is an ongoing process that continues to evolve our lifestyle. While citing the example of MSN Messenger he said that Whatsapp has replaced it as a far superior communications application. Such is the case with all applications and processes that have been evolved over the last decade. Speaking about how tech disruptions changing our lives, Mr. Jabbar said that half of the population in the US carries an e-passport and in China, only 15% of the passports are in book form while the rest carry an e-passport. He asked viewers to imagine what disruption technology can create in other sectors by making all processes to be completed online. Mr. Jabbar said that Pakistan must produce innovation through tech disruption and digital technologies. Such innovation will produce Unicorn as a byproduct. Unicorn is a privately held startup having a value of US 1 billion. He showed concerns over why banks do not provide loans to tech startups. He stressed the need for Pakistan to build its digital ecosystem and envisioned Pakistan’s digital ecosystem to create ten Unicorns in the next decade.
Through this webinar experienced professionals and entrepreneurs imparted upon the viewers’ new dimensions of how digital disruption has been changing business models in Pakistan. EMEC, IoBM and iwant.pk will continue to jointly host such insightful webinars on various topics.