All posts by : Mishaal Mariam Moin

India’s tech labor market is under threat from President Trump passing an executive order to stop issuing visas to people working in these industries. The executive order comes in a time when the American job market is trying to recover from the ill effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic. One of how the American government is trying to help the economy recover is by hiring only American citizens rather than importing skilled labor from abroad.    Due to travel restrictions and consulate closures all over the world, companies are already struggling with many employees working from home. India\’s technology trade group, Nasscom, called Trump\’s order is \”misguided and harmful to the US economy\” and warned it would exacerbate the country\’s economic pain. It also said that as an alternative to working in the US, companies would then start sending employees to places such as Canada or Mexico instead. \”These are highly-skilled workers who are in great demand and they will be mobile no matter what,\” said Shivendra Singh, president of global trade development at Nasscom.   India accounts for about 70 percent of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually, according to immigration data. The fact that Indian outsourcers collect a substantial share of the visas each year has made the program controversial, with critics arguing that companies abuse the system by replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Trump’s administration may also be looking at overhauling the system, making it merit-based instead of the current lottery-based system in place. Giving talent a preference over luck, enabling better, high skilled people to earn more salaries in the United States.    \”The temporary suspension of the H-1B visa program till December 2020 will hamper the execution of pipeline and new projects coupled with margin impact resulting from higher onshore hiring,\” credit rating company ICRA said in a note last week.   Among the other critics of the order were Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, Microsoft President Brad Smith, and Tesla founder Elon Musk. However, some companies like Tata, Infosys, and Wipro, among the largest outsourcing companies in Asia refused to comment on the ongoing events

The United Nations (UN) Women Pakistan is working on a portal to help Pakistan to improve reporting on its national and international commitments and policy actions with gender equality. The initiative will enhance the collection, processing, development, and use of structured data to report on the national and foreign obligations of the country and to direct effective policy decisions to enhance women\’s and girls\’ lives in Pakistan. National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has been engaged as the technical partner for developing this data portal.  Pakistan requires detailed regional data to successfully enforce, track, and disclose foreign gender equality commitments including the Convention on the Abolition of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the SDGs. Pakistan ranks 151 out of 153 in the latest Gender Gap report developed by the World Economic Forum which highlights the need to address the challenges using evidence-based interventions The need has emerged time and time again to compile, capture, incorporate, and disseminate gender variable data using diverse methods that can advise and coordinate strategies for tailored interventions. There are numerous sources of data sets at the national and regional levels, which need to be combined into a robust framework for evaluating and publishing policy guidance. This data portal will help to conduct regular analyzes of women\’s status in the country.  A major factor leading to the low status of women in Pakistan is the absence of credible, accurate, and clear national data that could help decision-makers better understand the situation, identify places where problems and inequalities exist, and take effective steps to address them. Aisha Mukhtar, Country Representative a.i. UN Women Pakistan highlights the importance of a centralized database: “Gender statistics is not just about sex-disaggregated data. We need gender statistics to highlight areas where progress is made, provide evidence of change, and identify gaps that need to be addressed. The National Gender Data Portal is about improving the availability and use of gender statistics for policy action.” Humera Azam Khan, Secretary NCSW, describing a lack of standardized data for national and international reporting as well as policy advice as a serious gap, says, “This data portal will help in conducting regular analysis on the status of women in the country. Once completed, it will be a landmark achievement.

Since the onslaught of the Coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan has deployed an ICT based approach to finding local hotspots and in turn enforcing smart lockdowns in areas in need of containment. Huawei officials laud this approach ensuring smoother and reliable network cooperation with Pakistan.  According to Huawei officials, “The fight against COVID-19 requires the sharing of expertise like never before, particularly in the technology field. That exchange can be seen in collaborations like those between the Ministry of National Health Services and Huawei to deploy a new video conferencing system that can be applied for epidemic prevention and control command, remote consultation, and remote monitoring.” Pakistan’s ICT community could be better designed so that systems that communities and businesses need to tackle the emergency together could be made more efficient.  “5G will also allow industries like manufacturing, electricity, transportation, finance, and many others to go digital, embrace artificial intelligence, and deliver new value for their customers,” said Meng, CEO of Huawei Pakistan, in a press statement. Elaborating smarter collaboration tools, he said new applications of artificial intelligence (AI) were, for example, being used to aid scientists and medical experts who are searching for a vaccine and treatments. “At Huawei, we are focused on innovations in technology, engineering, products, and solutions to address customer needs,” said Meng, pledging to bring digital applications to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. “We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.” On 5G — the fifth generation of network technology in which Huawei leads the world – the CEO said, “The potential future rollout of 5G connectivity will help improve network capacity and support even more robust tools in the fight against COVID-19.” “By 2025, 5G will serve 58% of the global population, and it will combine with technologies like 4K and higher definition video, VR/AR, AI, and cloud to transform our personal lives, homes, and industries in ways we have never imagined.” He also said that Huawei worked with their customers and partners effortlessly over the last few months to make sure they provided a smooth and reliable network connection in Pakistan and would continue to do so.

South Asia has always seen inspiring individuals coming to the forefront to provide solutions to some of the most vital social issues that plague the region. The innovation, resilience, and initiative shown by young entrepreneurs to harness the power of technology in coming up with new ideas for age-old problems speak volumes about the talent found there. Following such a productive landscape, Google announces the start of Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia. An initiative by the tech giant to support the local technology sector found in this part of the world. This three-month online accelerator program is ideal for high potential, early-stage tech startups across the Southeast Asia region (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines) and Pakistan. This year, they are looking particularly for startups who are solving the challenges we face today: whether that’s startups looking at new healthcare, education, finance or logistics solutions in light of social distancing restrictions; using AI, ML or data analysis in meaningful ways; or using technology to make the world more inclusive for the elderly or people with disabilities. Participating startups receive deep mentorship on both technical and business challenges as well as connections to relevant teams from across Google and its network of industry partners. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the accelerator also includes deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders. Applications ‌are ‌now ‌open through ‌July 19th, 2020 for startups across Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines) and also in Pakistan. The coronavirus has reshaped the way we view and participate in the world. A challenging new world waits for us once lockdowns start to ease around the world. Pakistan should embrace opportunities like this to grow through these difficult times with the world. Technology is a vital new factor of production in today’s modern world and to create a better, more inclusive, and participative Pakistan of tomorrow, we must leverage and optimize the skillet of our people today.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet raised concerns Thursday about the use of facial recognition technology during peaceful protests. The report was requested by the United Nations Human Rights Council two years ago, but it comes as demonstrations have erupted in several countries. \”There should be a moratorium on the use of #FacialRecognition technology in the context of peaceful protests until States meet certain conditions including transparency, oversight and #HumanRights due diligence before deploying it,\” her office said on Twitter. In a separate tweet, the rights body said the high commissioner told states that \”new technologies must serve, not hinder, right to peaceful protest.\” The facial recognition system utilizes biometrics to map facial features from a video or photograph. It compares the information with a database to find a match. \”Facial recognition has all kinds of commercial applications. It can be used for everything from surveillance to marketing,\” Norton said, adding that the technology potentially comes with privacy issues. Ninety-eight countries already use the technology, 12 have approved and 13 others are considering using it, according to a report by the VisualCapitalist.org news outlet which mapped the state of facial recognition around the world. A few countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and Morocco are having second thoughts about deploying the controversial technology for national use. China, expected to dominate nearly half of the global market by 2023, is often cited as the most extensive user and exporter of the mass surveillance technology. With facial recognition integrated into China\’s massive public surveillance system and its social credit experiment, where even minor infractions of public norms can result in sanctions. The UN report pointed out that technology-enabled surveillance had been a major factor in shrinking civic space in a range of countries, with some states using intrusive online surveillance and the hacking of social media accounts used by protest organizers and demonstrators themselves. Thursday\’s report warned that the use of facial recognition technology had left many people feeling wary of demonstrating in public places or publicly expressing their views for fear they could be identified, with negative consequences. Moreover, Facial recognition should not be deployed in the context of peaceful protests without essential safeguards regarding transparency, data protection, and oversight in place.

After a lengthy delay, Pakistan’s ambitious electric vehicle (EV) policy was approved for implementation this month, but a late-stage change leaves cars out of its first phase.The current strategy, implemented on June 10, was initially endorsed by Prime Minister Imran Khan in November to reduce air pollution and mitigate climate change. The policy plans to introduce half a million hybrid bikes and rickshaws, along with more than 100,000 electric vehicles, and buses, into the transportation network in the next five years. The goal is to have at least 30% of all vehicles running on electricity by 2030. Covering buses and trucks, as well as two- and three-wheel vehicles, including rickshaws and motorcycles, the new policy introduces a raft of incentives to encourage manufacturers to start producing electric vehicles and customers to buy them. Eventhough electric cars may be more expensive to invest in initially, manufacturers promise swift returns on investments claiming the cars would be less expensive to maintain than their traditional oil guzzling rivals. One potential obstacle to the speedy uptake of EVs is a lack of charging infrastructure. To address that, the policy makes it cheaper for authorities and companies to install charging stations in cities and along motorways. Moreover, in a country where large cities routinely suffer high levels of air pollution, the benefits to Pakistan’s environmental health will also be significant, he added. Each electric vehicle produces 65% fewer pollutants than traditional petrol-powered engines, Said Malik Amin Aslam, climate change advisor to the prime minister. According to the latest World Air Quality Report, Pakistani and Indian cities dominated the most polluted cities in 2019. Much of that pollution is due to Pakistan’s rapid motorization, environmental experts say. A World Bank study published in 2014 noted that the number of vehicles on the country’s roads jumped from about 2 million in 1991 to more than 10 million two decades later. According to Syed Muhammad Abubakar, an independent environmental researcher based in Lahore, the transport sector produces more than 40% of the air pollution in Punjab province. Critics warn that the policy will take longer for Pakistanis to reap the policy’s environmental and financial benefits, however, it is a step in the right direction.

The coronavirus pandemic has made the citizens of many countries resort to working from home or studying from home. In this regard, the digital divide of the world became all the more apparent. By 2019, 2.3 billion people were using the internet in the Asia Pacific, more than the rest of the world put together, and the region was shaping the development of technologies from digital payments to artificial intelligence. However, the speed at which the coronavirus forced people and companies to resort to digital technologies for service provision, highlighted the inefficiencies that were present in poor infrastructure development, cloud computing facilities, and other skills that the companies and employees in Asia did simply did not possess. Similarly, the impact of the virus has made gaps in internet access and online opportunity starker, threatening Asia\’s future technology leaders. Despite unprecedented success over the last decade, the digital economy of the country remains profoundly fragmented along demographic, regional, and gender lines. More than 2 billion people in Asia are still not connected at all — including the GSMA network operator group reports that 207 million women in South Asia alone do not own cell phones. For those who are online, economic opportunity is not equally available: in Southeast Asia, research from Google, Bain, and Temasek found that seven big cities make up more than half the digital economy despite having just 15% of the population. And it is not a problem limited to developing economies — in Japan, almost 60% of small or medium-sized businesses do not yet have a presence online, according to IPSOS research prepared for Google. This digital demand will leave those that do not have access to the internet to fall greatly behind those who do. Families that are reluctant to access the Internet would be refused programs that are gradually being provided electronically. Small companies that are reluctant to transact electronically would be less successful. Job applicants without the capacity to use technology would be disqualified from jobs. To counter this danger and set up Asia for the post-COVID-19 decade, policymakers and the technology industry must work together on a new strategy to render the region\’s Internet more available and its digital economy more inclusive. Investment in broadband networks and affordable phones and the internet can help get more users online — but these measures alone are not enough. First, all Asian policymakers should make digital inclusion key to their recovery and job growth strategies, connect it to economic development, and put the same focus on investment in technology, education, and health.  Second, under these larger strategies, they must create public-private coalitions to develop digital awareness and expertise, concentrating first on having small companies utilize the Web and extending to all levels of schooling and training. Third, if there are intractable internet connectivity shortages that need extra consideration, more tailored interventions can be placed in motion to rebalance the scales. The Asia Foundation – with funding from ASEAN and Google.org – is initiating an initiative for community groups to implement digital literacy training for disadvantaged ethnic populations, female business owners, underemployed young people. Finally, backing Asian talent to advance technology itself in more equitable ways, through research, investment and training in areas where the region already has natural strengths should be focused on, to ensure South Asia’s digital divide does not leave it in the dust.

A recent report by CBRE (the world\’s largest commercial real estate service) finds that the Indian data center market across Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and the National Capital Region are expected to experience a 40% data supply increase this year. Presently, the Mumbai data center has 41% data capacity filled, while the Bangalore and Delhi centers are next most-occupied at 17% and 16%, respectively. Data centers are simply centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated to collect, store, processing, distributing, or allowing access to large amounts of data. They have existed in one form or another since the advent of computers. This spike in the demand for data centers in India was experienced due to the lockdown effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the country; as more and more people took part in a multitude of digital services like online gaming, video streaming, virtual classrooms, and meetings. The Indian regulatory environment is expected to support these ventures in an attempt to aid the process, according to Anshuman Magazine, CBRE’s Chairman & CEO – India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa. “Policy impetus such as the National E-commerce Policy, Personal Data Protection Bill, proposed policy on Data Centre Parks and digital initiatives by the government will accelerate demand.” Said Mr. Anshuman. Being one of the only sectors who has benefited from the pandemic, he said “The COVID-19 situation will further propel the next wave of growth in the sector and most importantly, the proposal to give DCs the coveted ‘Infrastructure status’ will place them high on global investor radar.” The pandemic could encourage businesses to invest in cloud and hybrid IT technology, with more corporations moving online and more corporate workers working from home than ever before. There are at least ten data center developments scheduled to be operating between June 2020 and December 2022. Market research from Arizton shows that the data center sector in India will grow at a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR) of around 5% between now and 2025.

China\’s maize-soybean strip intercropping technology has attracted a lot of interest after the latest media story that two Pakistani students from the Sichuan Agricultural University are utilizing and popularizing this innovation in their communities. Such technology is widely available in Pakistan. It will raise maize yield as well as build additional soya bean harvests to minimize Pakistan\’s imports of soybean and increase the country\’s food security said Yang Wenyu, a professor at Sichuan Agricultural University, who is improving this technology and providing generous help to both students, financially and technically. It was he who first proposed the idea of employing this technology to bridge the gap between demand and supply of Soybean in Pakistan.  The use of maize-soybean strip intercropping technologies in Pakistan is theoretical and realistic. Second, Pakistan has a huge population while the arable land area is small. This has a need for inter-cropping to produce two crops together. Second, Pakistan enjoys ample sunlight, which is a favorable natural condition for soybean’s growth. Moreover, in the inter-cropping fields, maize can shade soybean to reduce high average temperature’s impact, and nitrogen fixation by soybean can promote maize’s growth in return. The crops in this model are like close partners that cooperate with each other to create bumper harvests. Maize is currently cultivated on an area of about 1.3 million hectares in Pakistan. If Professor Yang Wenyu’s method is adopted, the maize yield of Pakistan can be greatly increased.  Besides Pakistan, it also has been introduced to Africa and Europe such as Ghana and Sweden. Yang Wenyu’s team is working with Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences to promote the technology in European countries.  Modern farming and agricultural operations work far differently than those a few decades ago, primarily because of advancements in technology, including sensors, devices, machines, and information technology. Today’s agriculture routinely uses sophisticated technologies such as robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology around the world.  These advanced agriculture practices and research based insights allow businesses to be more profitable, efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly. It is about high time that Pakistan also makes a conscious effort to introduce new-age practices like these in order too slowly mechanize the agricultural sector, making it more competitive internationally.

China-Pak collaboration could significantly boost the production of vegetables in Pakistan. If China Economic Net (CEN), researchers come to Pakistan on a field trip, they could teach our students which seed to choose and how to cultivate based on different soils and climate, and tell the locals how to irrigate and use pesticides. Moreover, The Chinese researchers could also help Pakistani farmers to find the locust breeding grounds by using advanced technologies. A hot topic that has left policymakers and farmers scrambling for a solution, as Pakistan suffers from the worst locust plague in the past 27 years. Rahat Sharif, a Pakistani student at China\’s Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (NWAFU) claimed that his lab at NWAFU researched developing cucumber resistance against powdery mildew. The applied research has not only improved the production of cucumber but also the livelihood of local farmers. The same could be applied to Pakistani farms and the agriculture arena.  His lab has developed several cucumber varieties and they were provided to local farmers in Shaanxi Province, which had successfully lifted some farmers out of poverty. Sharif believes that his research has the potential to help Pakistani farmers increase the production of cucumber and get rid of poverty. Furthermore, a more mechanized and technological approach to farming would greatly benefit Pakistan’s agricultural sector. Mechanization is a crucial input for agricultural crop production and one that historically has been neglected in the context of developing countries. Factors that reduce the availability of farm power compromise the ability to cultivate sufficient land and have long been recognized as a source of poverty, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasing the power supply to agriculture means that more tasks can be completed at the right time and greater areas can be farmed to produce greater quantities of crops while conserving natural resources. Applying new environmentally friendly technologies enables farmers to produce crops more efficiently by using less power. Sustainable agricultural mechanization can also contribute significantly to the development of value chains and food systems as it has the potential to render postharvest, processing, and marketing activities and functions more efficient, effective, and environmentally friendly. Increasing levels of mechanization do not necessarily mean big investments in tractors and other machinery. Farmers need to choose the most appropriate power source for any operation depending on the work to be done and on who is performing it. The level of mechanization should meet their needs effectively and efficiently. Women play an important role in many farming-based communities, and in some countries, up to 80 percent of the total farm labor comes from women. This implies that power sources (human, animal, or motor-based) need to be adapted to such necessities from an ergonomic, social, cultural, and economic point of view. The reduction of drudgery is a key element of sustainable mechanization and contributes to reducing women\’s hard workload by taking into consideration technologies apt to their needs and improving their access to appropriate forms of farm power. Gaining insight from Chinese firms could help change the way farming is viewed and approached in our country.