Pakistan Software House Association, more commonly known as P@SHA, is a well know institute in the Pakistan’s tech community. It was founded in 1994 with just four companies. Over time, the number has swelled to over 370 currently.
However the site has not updated its facts and figure and the the latest figures are from 2004. The association is currently presided by Madam Jehan Ara, and Chairman Mr. Syed Ali, who is CEO, DPL Pvt. Ltd. Also, you can view the list executive committee and designates here on their website.
Besides providing membership to software houses, P@SHA is also a prime platform for technology entrepreneurs and startups. Their recent move was to establish an incubator in Karachi. The Nest I/O is nesting around 35 startups, and a few of them are now getting good traction.
Regarding its members and their well-being, P@SHA has coordinated with Government to create and initiate policies in order to establish an environment where the IT businesses can grow and also to attract more companies and people to join the tech industry of Pakistan.
P@SHA ICT Awards: An Introduction
Every year since 2009, PASHA has conducted ICT Awards. Under the presidency of Madam Jehan Ara, the award has evolved into a regular affair in Pakistan IT industry.
Recognizing everyone from amateur tech talents to those at the very forefront of innovation in Pakistani IT industry, the awards have showcased many industry leaders and budding talents under its lime light.
There have been some controversies and issues and sometimes social media comments which could hurt the credibility of the awards, but my point is, if someone has an issue then they can always come up with a better idea or solution, which we are yet to see by the way.
The Award Categories
P@SHA has 48 categories in which it recognizes the nominations for its award. However the number is differing from the categories mentioned on the website to the awards listing in the archives.
The award itself is a symbolic representation of an iconic image either with a bow and arrow or a spear, but you need to guess what it is in truth.
Awards By the Numbers and Years
Out of these 48 categories, there are just 3 areas where the award has been consistently given since 2009.
These are:
- Security Applications
- Tertiary Student Project
- Research and Development
Least Awarded Categories:
The least awards were given in the categories of Application and tool platforms, Brand Development, E-Marketplace, Government and Public Sector, Green Sustainable IT applications, ICT for development, Inclusion and Community, IT Industry Promotion, Support, Mobile Games, News and Media, Operational Excellence, Project Management, and Social Media non-IT.
These above categories are either awarded twice or just one time in the whole 7 years of awards history. Most of the time, the award is given to the same company consistently. It does raise a critical question, that if some particular year or years that award is not given, then what does that blank space represents for tech community of Pakistan?
Companies With The Most Awards:
The most awarded company is CARE (Center for Advanced Research in Engineering); bagging 10 awards since 2009, under the categories of Communications, E-Governance, Health, Research and Development and Security Categories. Others include:
The highest number of awards was given in the year 2013 and 2015 under 27 categories, whereas the lowest so far has been in 2012, when only 16 categories were awarded.
The Data Inconsistency
Please note after filtering typo and inconsistency errors from the P@SHA award data, the total number of categories as mentioned on the website is 32, but if we browse around since 2009, then there have been 48 categories so far. Â Out of which the association decides on a number of reasons and submissions that which category to be awarded each year.
There Are Others As Well
Besides P@SHA ICT awards, there are also 6 major award ceremonies that were held in the past 2 years. These are:
- Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA)
- Pakistan Mobile App Awards by PTA
- Startup Cup (TIE Islamabad)
- RCCI ICT Awards (Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
- Young Entrepreneurs Awards (YEOP)
- Pakistan Innovation Foundation Awards
So it’s not just Pakistan Software House Association who rewards talents and tech businesses in Pakistan, there are others as well.
In My Opinion
Keeping the criticism aside, there seems to be more room for improvement each year. As new businesses storm in each year, the process of their recognition and promotion should be dealt with care and precision. It does raise questions in the minds of general audience that why certain companies are awarded year after year under the same categories, while similar businesses exist and provide good competition.
Tell me, wouldn’t you raise an eyebrow if Titanic was awarded for two consecutive years under the category of Best Picture at the Academy Awards? It’s because in return it puts a big question mark on the other films which excel within the same year.
Even with PASHA’s limited resources, I think they can do a much better job of delivering consistency in recognizing talents and promoting startups in Pakistan under the mentorship of the talented Madam Jehan Ara. But that’s just my opinion based on the facts as I understand them. Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts on the matter.
Here’s all the data you could ever need regarding P@SHA awards:
Seeing same old faces for almost a decade now at P@SHA!
Everybody knows these are fake awards. Why even publish them and give them publicity. PASHA is fake and useless.
TECH has taken this part very seriously
As its ex-President, I agree with comments here; it has become a private club under the grab of a incompetent qabza group for years now. Its needs a complete overhaul…
Could not agree more. Same faces who think they are some champion entrepreneurs but have nothing to show in terms of what businesses they have founded. End up doing jobs. Irony is that people with that job mind-set train entrepreneurs.
You see same faces because we don’t yet have enough innovation going on to fill these awards! Simple as that!
Just for our information ..
Kindly also share the names of key position holders in PASHA … PLUS ….. the owners of award winning companies since 2009 …
The picture will be more clear for the Industry ……… !
Sir the links for the data are given at the end of the article. Regarding the key positions, that link is also provided at the start of the article :) (for the sake of keeping it under a certain word count, we tend to provide links to our dear readers)
Thanks :)
Thanks :)