Islamabad, February 1, 2018: Ignite, Ministry of IT & Telecom has launched DigiSkills program to impart training of one million workforce comprising of youth, skilled professionals and freelancers. Ignite has awarded DigiSkills training project to Virtual University of Pakistan and PTCL has been selected as partner for this strategic project.
DigiSkills program will impart training to one million knowledge resources like youth, freelancers, students, and professionals, who would deliver professionally across the globe and contribute in country’s economic growth. The program aims at, not only developing key specialized skills, but also imparting knowledge about various freelancing and other employment & entrepreneurial opportunities available internationally and locally. Due to limited employment opportunities, it is essential for upcoming workforce to have necessary knowledge and abilities to seize such opportunities to become influential participants in global competitive market for capturing international opportunities across multiple industry segments.
Dr Naveed Malik, Rector, Virtual University of Pakistan and Adil Rashid, Chief Digital Services Officer, PTCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the PM House today. Dr Naveed Malik, Rector, Virtual University of Pakistan and Adil Rashid, Chief Digital Services Officer, PTCL signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the PM Secretariat today. Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for IT & Telecom, Ms. Anusha Rahman, President & CEO PTCL Dr. Daniel Ritz and CEO Ignite Mr. Yusuf Hussain also graced the occasion.
Appreciating and encouraging the initiative, the honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the occasion said, “The government is committed to bring economic growth and development of Pakistan, I congratulate Virtual University and thank PTCL for collaborating with VU for this Digital Skills Training Programme under the auspices of our government which would train 1 million people of this country all over the world under the umbrella of ‘On Demand Economy’. This initiative, would not only create employment opportunities, but also provide the nation to contribute for the vision of prosperous Pakistan”.
Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Ms. Anusha Rahman, while expressing her satisfaction with this significant initiative, congratulated ministry of IT, Ignite, VU and PTCL for partnering on this major initiative of Ministry that will provide online training to 1 Million youth enabling them to earn using technology by accessing online market places. She further hoped that after successful implementation of this programme, Pakistan will be able to achieve number 1 position in global freelancing domain.
President and CEO PTCL Dr. Daniel Ritz shared his views on this accomplishment and said. “PTCL always strives hard to contribute and bring Pakistan at par with rest of the world by launching innovative and enterprising initiatives. Taking another step forward, PTCL has joined hands with Virtual University to train 1 million Pakistanis across the world through its broadband footprint and cloud infrastructure (IAAS) representing all walks of life."
The key development areas of training include sharing respective strengths, experiences and methodologies for skill development aimed at promoting quality and competitiveness in educational & training sectors of Pakistan and working together on diverse projects of mutual interest to facilitate human resource development initiatives which focus on economic development of the country, especially in implementing innovative projects of mutual interest in the fields of ICT.
