January 28, 2021
Two Pakistani Chief Information Officers have bagged the awards for "Inspiring Business Transformation" at the “The World CIO 200 Summit", among hundreds of CIOs from across the globe.
The World CIO 200 Summit gathers global IT decision-makers and solution providers at a unique platform. The providers and the decision-makers of the industry meet under one roof as technology is now a crucial factor for strategic decision making than ever before.
In the 2020 edition of the summit, there were several nominations received before the event, which were evaluated by a global jury. Subsequently, 200 top CIOs were shortlisted and nominated for the DX Inspire Awards 2020. The 21 shortlisted CIOs for the summit included Pakistanis as well.
Out of top CIOs, 20 were able to win the DX inspire awards, which included two from Pakistan — General Manager Information Technology of Muller and Phipps Pakistan Pvt Ltd Iftikhar Arif and Global Chief Information Officer of Aga Khan Universities and Hospitals Russel Withers.
It is pertinent to mention here that there are 26 countries associated with The World CIO 200 Summit, and Pakistan participated for the second time in the summit.
"This is indeed a moment of pride for Pakistan that capable CIOs are not only available in the private sector but also the public sector to lead the digital transformation journey for their organisations," a statement issued after the event said.
PSEB and Geo News played a vital role in making Pakistan’s chapter successful, the statement noted.
Meanwhile, Loco Services, being the country partner of “The World CIO 200 Summit – Pakistan Edition, took the initiative for the encouragement and recognition of Pakistan’s CIOs at the international level.
Muhammad Umer Khokhar from Loco Services said: "Pakistan being a part of The World CIO 200 Summit is a great achievement." He said that this is another step towards the promotion and recognition of tech experts in Pakistan.
Moreover, 21 Pakistanis were nominated for "BOTS (The Book Of Titans)" — a special yearbook that celebrates the success of the world top 200 CIOS of the digital world and their projects.
The following members successfully became part of BOTS 2020:
1. Syed Abu Tufail
2. Syed Abdul Qadir
3. Muhammad Qasim
4. Raza Askari
5. Russel, Withers
6. Waqar, Naqvi
7. Khawaja, Khurram
8. Zaid Umer, Farooqui
9. Shakeel, Akhhter
10. Azfar, Sabih
11. Asim, Mahmood
12. Wajahat, Khan
13. M Usman, Akram
14. Faisal, Hussain
15. Iftikhar Arif
16. Abdul Rahim Ahmad
17. Faisal, Mahmood
18. Faisal, Anwar
19. Mashhood Rahman
20. Faizan Mustafa
21. Sahibzada Ali Mahmud