A Chinese firm had offered to invest $56 million in the ElectroCure system for its commercialisation at 82 loss-making feeders, which could reduce electricity losses/theft by around 90 percent. This was revealed before the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology & Telecommunication, which met here under the chairmanship of Ali Khan Jadoon on Monday. CEO Ignite Yusuf Hussain briefed the committee on Ignite and its progress. The Ignite was formerly known as National ICT R&D Fund.
The committee was informed that a Chinese firm had offered to invest $56 million in the technology for its commercialisation at 82 loss-making feeders but demanded profit sharing. The committee was further informed that K-Electric is under process to deploy ElectroCure technology on trail basis. ElectroCure is a meter-less smart metering system that provides real-time monitoring and metering of the electricity infrastructure preventing electricity theft through meter tampering as well as billing irregularities. The technology was deployed in MES Peshawar and MES Rawalpindi for over a year and it reduced over 90 percent of the losses incurred during the electricity transmission.
The committee expressed serious reservations over the non-deployment of this technology by DISCOs, which could prove so helpful in reducing losses in the power sector. Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui informed the committee that Prime Minister Imran Khan and energy minister were given a briefing on the technology; however, bureaucracy's cooperation is needed for its success.
Mohammad Yousaf further said that Ignite financed proposals/ideas with Rs 3 billion during the last one-and-a-half-year while attracted additional Rs 4 billion from private sector. Ignite collaborated with Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT) and established five National Incubation Centres (NICs) across the country. The Ignite has created over 11,000 jobs, besides incubating 117 start-ups across these five incubation centres which have raised over Rs 4 billion in investments to scale their operations, and also refined their products and generated Rs 900 million revenue so far.
Hussain said that the purpose of the programme is to bring innovation to help masses in education, agriculture, health, and energy sectors. Furthermore, he discussed various programmes that have already started helping the peoples. He also added that the Ignite is playing its key role by supporting such innovative ideas in all provinces of the country.
Under the Ignite supervision 'Fly High with Wi-Fi' has been developed which is a low-cost internet service provision to under-served areas in Balochistan, interior Sindh and FATA through drones. Prototype has been completed and is currently being tested. The technology would facilitate 2G and 3G within a radius of 5 kilometres.
Integry, another Ignite sponsored product, provides ready-to-use integrations that one can drop in his/her app. Users can then bring their data from other apps into app and have a 40 percent reduced churn, double the LTV and which is also incubated at the Alchemist, a famous accelerator in USA. Integry has been a part of the NIC Islamabad and investment commitment of Rs 94.5 million.
Mauqa.online is an impact based start-up providing an on-demand service that matches temporary workers to household help in Islamabad. It is Uber for the blue-collar workforce, employed from slums across within cities. PakVitae-a nanotechnology based startup that has developed a patented water filter which uses no energy. It purifies water to 99.9999 percent purity and provides clean drinkable water at less than 1 paisa per litre. It will affect millions of people who do not have access to clean drinking water at the most affordable price. This technology develops products that have the capability of purifying water. The technology fetched investment commitment of Rs 2.6 billion and generated Rs 5 million.
Fine trading and living led by a woman entrepreneur, is impacting the lives of people at the bottom of the pyramid. They sell household needs to daily wage earners with a very unique model of providing customers with goods on day one without any deposit and collect daily instalments. The start-up achieved the investment commitment of Rs 30 million.
Aero Craft Engine led by Dr Sarah Qureshi, a PhD from Cranfield UK, leads a company that has developed a patented design for attachment to engines of jet liners to suppress water vapour trails at high altitudes. This simple invention has huge impact on global warming as frozen water vapours are at least 5 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Aero Craft Engine raised over Rs 23 million investments.
Bera offers indigenous craft of Peshawari shoemaking with a mix of century-old skills and modern fashion. Offering luxurious Peshawari chappals, Bera develops its products with quality materials offering comfort and market dominant design. Bera has raised Rs 5 million in funding. DarEwro, a Peshawar-based start-up, has an app that picks up food, medicine and clothes for customers. They partner with local businesses to pick up orders and deliver them directly to customers' homes. DarEwro has raised Rs 3.9 million in funding.
Aprus is an electrosurgical instrument that has been developed to remove tumours, cut tissues, and seal blood vessels with increased hygiene and precision. Over 100 units of this device have been deployed across clinics and hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have been utilised in over 70,000 surgeries. Aprus secured funding of Rs 30.5 million.
Bykea is a logistics start-up that has two offerings. It provides on-demand ride-hailing service through which users can travel around the city by taking a bike ride. The second service provides parcel delivery on either Cash on Delivery (COD) or non-COD. Bykea raised over Rs 800 million to scale its operations. Gul Technology has developed an IoT enabled Smart Helmet to protect miners from catastrophic incidents. The helmet detects poisonous gases, monitors body biorhythms and location, and helps guide uneducated and semi-educated miners to safety. The start-up raised Rs 14 million.
The committee also inquired about the weak signals of the cellular companies especially in some areas in Balochistan including Qallat. In this regard, the committee directed that the issues regarding weak signal should be improved and un-interrupted network services all over the country should be ensured. The minister also informed the committee that they are working on cyber security policy which would help in overcoming this menace.
The committee expressed serious concerns over the cyber crimes in the country. The committee chairman said that joint efforts are needed to overcome the menace of cyber crimes, as every day it appears in different nature. The committee decided to call all the four major stakeholders including PTA, IT Ministry, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Information in the next meeting for a comprehensive strategy to overcome the menace of cyber crimes.
The committee was further informed that the government has decided to make National Information Technology Board (NITB) as an autonomous body and legislation in this regard is under process. The government would propose an act in the Parliament and after getting the approval, it would be made an autonomous body.
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