In conjunction with stakeholders such as PASHA, the industry association, Planning Commission, State Bank of Pakistan, the IT/ITeS industry, and the Ministry of Information Technology, PSEB develops a vision and strategic roadmap to fast-track the IT industry’s growth.
Export Targets and Plans
Industry Survey
Strategic Studies and Reports
Research Partnership
EXPORT TARGETS AND PLANS
One of PSEB’s major objectives is to enhance Pakistan’s software export, and these targets are annually set for it by the Ministry of Information Technology. PSEB has consistently exceeded expectations for the last two years.
- The State Bank of Pakistan in its statement for the year 2006-07 reports the export figures of software and IT-enabled services to be US$116 million which shows a consistent annual growth. State Bank of Pakistan adopted BPM 5 Reporting system to report the IT exports revenue, which restricted the export figures to US$116 million only in 2006-07.It has also been noted that the SBP reports call center revenue under telecommunication services rather than IT services. PSEB is working with SBP to reclassify this revenue stream under IT services, which will give a significant boost to IT exports as reported by SBP. Using the MSITS Reporting System, Pakistan IT Industry exports are estimated at US$ 1.4 billion while the industry size is estimated at US$ 2.8 billion. It is significant to note that Pakistan IT exports growth in each of the last few years has been more than 50%.
- PSEB has proposed a four-year draft strategic plan, which will increase the IT Industry’s size to US $11 billion in the calendar year 2011. Eight strategic areas with missions and annual targets have been identified. These include facilitation; human resource development; industry finance; marketing; office space provision; public policy; quality and telecom bandwidth provision. PSEB has provided an export plan to the Planning and Development Division for incorporation into Pakistan’s overall export strategy and targets.
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INDUSTRY SURVEY
No organization can strategically plan, manage and interact with its stakeholders in the absence of accurate data. PSEB also takes into account the industry’s statistics, and notices variations in order to have an insight regarding its needs and expectations from its partners.
In this regard, PSEB commissioned a survey of Pakistan’s IT companies in June 2006. Its objective was to acquire the latest data regarding the number of companies, growth, space requirements, and classification by type of business. The goal was to visit every IT company in Pakistan by September 2006.
Preliminary results indicate that:
- There are almost 700 active IT companies in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, which are roughly evenly divided among the three cities.
- Other cities are being surveyed, and it is expected that there are around 50 IT companies in other smaller cities and towns.
- Growth in Islamabad over the last three years has been around 300%, Karachi has been around 180% and Lahore has been around 150%.
- Lahore has been most adversely affected by the downturn in the USA and global IT markets – probably because it houses the most export-oriented IT firms.
- It appears that Islamabad might be the destination of choice for returning expatriates following the events of 11th September 2001 in the USA.
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STRATEGIC STUDIES AND REPORTS
PSEB also conducts research and reports regarding Pakistan’s IT industry. These studies prove insightful for strategic policy and decision-makers, the Government and stakeholders in the IT industry.
PSEB has also coordinated with various international research bodies, such as Gartner, Forrester, and the IDC. PSEB has purchased their reports regarding the global IT industry and its growth, and reports outlining which factors can make Pakistan a strategic player in the highly competitive outsourcing industry.
| Strategy for Increasing the Exports of BPO |
| Pakistan differs considerably from other competitors in the BPO marketplace because of the geopolitical constraints that it finds itself in. Any workable strategy hence needs to take these ground realities into account and action plan needs to be developed that work around some of these constraints. This study provides a long-term sustainable and comprehensive strategy for developing the outsourcing industry in Pakistan. It also contains useful statistics on IT Professional Services industry of Pakistan. |
| Title: |
Strategy for Increasing the Exports of BPO Services in Pakistan -- 1.8MB (PDF) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/BPO_Strategy_Feb072006.pdf |
| Description: |
A Report on BPO Services in Pakistan. |
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| Pakistan's Software Industry: Best Practices & Strategic Challenges |
| Comprehensively written by an independent consultant, Mr. Athar Osama, this report, entitled "Pakistan's Software Industry: Best Practices & Strategic Challenges", aims to identify best practices within the Pakistani software industry. This three-month long independent research study has resulted in a number of key findings of immense value to the industry. Written in an easy-to-read format, the study classifies Pakistani software companies into four categories, each with its own set of strategic challenges and best practices. The categories allow the reader to easily relate their own situation to one of these classifications, and to learn from the best practices followed by companies in that category. |
| Title: |
Full-version research report -- 123 pages, >1MB (PDF Format) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/Best_Practices_Study.pdf |
| Description: |
Funded, and published, by PSEB, this study is also supported by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA). |
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| Assessment of Professionals in Pakistan’s IT Sector |
| Although a large number of professionals are already working in the IT industry, and new IT graduates are joining the workforce every year, the exact number of these professionals, their qualifications, and their needs’ assessments remain largely unknown. PSEB, therefore, has undertaken a short survey in order to estimate how many people are professionally involved in the IT sector, which can provide a basis for further study, and provide some assistance to the policy-makers in the industry. The objective of the assignment has been to carry out an independent survey in order to analyze the most important factor for the future growth of the IT sector in Pakistan i.e. skilled human resources, with a view to assessing the current situation and potential for further development of the IT industry. |
| Title: |
Report on IT Professionals in Pakistan -- 1.8MB (PDF) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/Report_IT_Professionals.pdf |
| Description: |
Report on the number of IT professionals employed in Pakistan |
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| Compensation Survey 2005 |
| This study is an independent and reliable compensation survey regarding the various levels of IT professionals employed in Pakistan’s IT industry. |
| Title: |
Compensation Survey for IT and ITeS Industry of Pakistan - 2005 |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/Compensation_Survey.pdf |
| Description: |
A report about compensation provided to IT professionals in Pakistan |
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| Setting up Call Centers in Pakistan |
| A guide for local entrepreneurs and businesspersons, the objective of this report is to create awareness among existing and potential investors and venture capital companies to explore Pakistan's IT sector for the growth of their business. |
| Title: |
Setting up Call Centers in Pakistan -- 43 pages, < 500 Kb (PDF Format) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/SettingUp_CallCenter_Pakistan.pdf |
| Description: |
This report defines a call center; its key categories; the procedure for, and the economics of, building a call center in Pakistan. |
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| Call Center Technologies: Latest Trends |
| This compilation contains three articles which delve into the latest trends in call center technologies. |
| Title: |
Call Center Technologies: Latest Trends |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk//UserFiles/documents/CallCenter_Technologies.pdf |
| Description: |
These include "The Six Essential Technologies for Workforce Optimization in Call Centers"; "Emerging Technologies for Call Centers and their Level of Maturity"; and "Comparison of Call Center Solutions". |
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| So you want to become an Entrepreneur |
| A guide for young graduates, it aims to provide basic information before setting up an IT business. Please click here. |
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| Opportunities for the Pakistani IT Industry within Bioinformatics |
| This study provides insight into the field of bioinformatics, and explores the opportunities available in it for Pakistan. |
| Title: |
Full-version research report -- 170 pages, >1MB (PDF Format) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/Report_Bioinformatics.pdf |
| Description: |
Funded, and published, by PSEB, this study has been undertaken by Gallup/BRB. It maps out the existing status of bioinformatics globally as well as in the country, including an assessment of the present state of research and development in bioinformatics, its application in the country, and its future potential. It assesses the potential for bringing together bioinformatics and biotechnology research resources in Pakistan with the IT industry in order to exploit the opportunities available in bioinformatics. |
| Title: |
Presentation - Bioinformatics Workshop |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/Bioinformatics_Workshop_Pres.ppt |
| Description: |
PowerPoint presentation from a consultative workshop held by PSEB on 14th September 2005. |
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| IT Human Resource Need Assessment Study - 2006 |
This study is a human resource need assessment of the Pakistani IT industry for the next ten years. It reports the current number of IT professionals in Pakistan, broken down by sub-sectors of the economy, as well as by skill sets/job description. The report also projects sector- and skills-wise human resource requirement of the Pakistani IT industry for the next decade.
This information is useful for stakeholders, including the Pakistani IT industry, policy-makers at the governmental level, educational institutions and students. |
| Title: |
Full-version research report -- 165 pages, -- 868 KB (PDF) |
| URL: |
http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/documents/ITHRNeedAssessment.pdf |
| Description: |
IT Human Resource Need Assessment Study - 2006 |
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| Studies in Progress |
A number of studies are currently underway. The current status of these studies is given below:
- Setting Up of Venture Capital Fund:
IT firms are often unable to get financing from banks and traditional forms of raising capital for business development and expansion, as banks are usually reluctant to lend large sums of money without tangible collateral that could be sold off in case of default. VC fund would facilitate the growth of the IT industry by providing capital to IT firms.
A study has been outsourced to M/S Anjum Asim Shahid Rahman (chartered accountants) for reviewing of structure and performance of the existing and recently closed Venture Funds in the country and other government backed venture capital schemes world wide. The consultant would recommend the most optimal design of the government backed venture capital fund in Pakistan, recommend changes that would need to be made in the country’s financial and tax regulations and assist PSEB in preparing guidelines and documents required for setting up a VC Fund for the Pakistani IT Industry.
- Data Confidentiality Law and Framework:
Keeping in view the worldwide outsourcing requirements of safeguarding electronic data and intellectual property rights and the demand of the IT industry, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has outsourced drafting of ‘Data Confidentiality Law and Framework’ to a highly reputed law firm - M/S Jamil and Jamil.
Drafting of the new proposed law is underway and it is envisioned that the proposed law will help ensure the confidentiality of corporate data, both domestic and international, and will thus boost the IT-enabled services sector.
- Strategic Review of the Pakistani IT Industry:
PSEB has engaged the services of Gartner Consulting, a leading International firm to conduct a study on the Pakistan IT Industry. The objectives of this study are to undertake a review of the existing conditions of the Pakistani ICT sector with particular emphasis on the software and IT services and develop a practical strategic blue print that will assist the government and the companies operating in the sector to achieve a step-change improvement in performance.
For further information, providing feedback, or an expression of interest in contributing to, PSEB's various studies, please write to info@pseb.org.pk .
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RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
While the benefits of ongoing research and development are clear to everybody, it is sometimes not possible for companies to maintain the levels of staffing and expertise necessary to ensure the viability of such activities.
PSEB has established close working relationships with leading Pakistani universities that are active in research and development in the field of IT and telecommunications. An important component of PSEB’s strategy is to ensure that the educational curriculum remains updated and industry-driven. Strengthening industry-academia linkages is also a priority area. PSEB can help interested companies form research partnerships with these universities to allow the transfer of new technologies into existing development lifecycle processes.
Funding for R&D activities of interest to IT and telecommunications companies in Pakistan is relatively easy. PTCL's R&D Fund, managed by a 17-person committee, annually receives 1% of the gross revenue of all the telecommunication service providers in Pakistan. Funding is disbursed for activities defined by the fund in its guidelines, details of which are available on http://www.ictrdf.org.pk. The process of obtaining funding is relatively straight-forward, with the quality of the proposals being the most important factor in the decision-making process. Typical timelines between the submission of proposals and the selection of projects is between 2-3 months, as a stringent peer review process is followed in order to ensure transparency in decision-making. Typical grants range from US$ 200,000 to US$ 600,000. Proposals jointly submitted by a university and an IT/telecom company are preferred.
For more information please contact the undersigned.
Sabahat Majeed
Research Analyst
Pakistan Software Export Board (G) Ltd.
2nd Floor, Evacuee Trust Building,
Aga Khan Road, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Tel: +92 51 9204074 Ext. 116
Fax: +92 51 9204075
E-mail: smajeed@pseb.org.pk |
