‘10Pearls University’ holds Women Tech Quest 2023, Pakistan’s Biggest Tech Competition for Women.

Women Tech Quest 2023, an initiative of 10Pearls University, is a platform for women to compete, learn, network and showcase their tech talents. The 7^th edition of Women Tech Quest (WTQ) took place on June 17, 2023, and was physically held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Over 700 women in technology from across the three cities took part in the event.

WTQ, launched in 2017, is a competition dedicated to help women assess and showcase their tech skills, get recognition, and also win great cash prizes and exposure. Additionally, there are inspirational speaker sessions and workshops, in which leading professional women share their experiences to help other budding professionals grow and excel.

According to Syeda Sana Hussain, Head of People & Programs – EMEA, 10Pearls, “This was our 7th consecutive year of successfully conducting Women Tech Quest. As one of our flagship initiatives for gender diversity and women empowerment, WTQ has kick-started and boosted careers of 5000+ women, strengthened Pakistan’s talent pool, and provided women an established platform to gain visibility and showcase their limitless potential.”

Multiple Competition Streams: The competition comprised three streams; Coding, Testing and Design. The Coding competition included a series of problems presented to the participants; they could use any programming language to solve them. The Testing competition presented contestants with a set of objectives to test database and automation concepts; while the Design Competition required participants to solve a UI/UX challenge, and their approach towards user research, persona building and user flows was gauged.

There were two categories – Professional and Student – for each stream, in each city. Each city had 6 winners, so in total 18 winners were announced. Winners received grand cash prizes and shields, whereas all participants received swag kits and certificates of participation.

Invigorating Speaker sessions & Workshops: Apart from the Competition, WTQ also featured inspirational speaker sessions by esteemed women such as Meighan Newhouse (SVP, Transformation and Enablement, Inspirant Group); Zartaj Ahmed (Director, PSSEC); Mehvish Waliany (COO, Alkaram Studio); Alice Bhagataney (Co-Founder, Upstream); Meenah Tariq (CEO, Metric); Usra Murtaza (Senior Marketing Associate, Walee); Saba Kalsoom (Senior Manager Markets and Enterprises, Fasset); Sadia Khan (Fintech Entrepreneur); and Humna Raza (Creative Director and Podcast Host, One8nine Media).

In her opening note, Meighan Newhouse shared how empowerment and true joy comes from within; “finding yourself is a deeply personal journey and also the root of everything we do in life. To be able to empower ourselves and other women around us, we have to first know who we are, what we value, and what we seek in life. Only then can we take meaningful steps that make a true and lasting difference”.

The event also hosted an interactive workshop on Women’s Health and Wellness by Mahlaqa Shaukat (CEO & Co-Founder, Aimfit).

Endorsed by leading companies:  As the event of the year for tech women, WTQ 2023 was endorsed by top names in technology and other industries. This time, the event partners included reputed names such as CaterpillHERs, Figma Community Lahore, GDG Kolachi, MLSA Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad, WomeninTechPK, Bytewise Ltd, Growelle Labs, CodeGirls, AWS User Group Karachi, Daftarkhwan, AimFit, and Claymate.  

The event was sponsored by Careem and Testworthy.

About 10Pearls University: 10Pearls University, a Center of Continuous and Advance Learning, aims to provide a physical and virtual ecosystem for students and professionals to learn, network and upskill their knowledge. The platform is used to conduct online and on-ground courses, workshops and training sessions on advanced technologies and leadership skills, enhancing individual growth and development. It also organizes innovative technology conferences, events, competitions, hackathons and webinars in order to build community engagement, and lead the conversation in industry innovation and emerging tech. Our mission is to enable a learning platform where talent is equipped with state-of-the-art ecosystem/resources, empowering them to boost their careers and lead innovation.

Careem becomes the region’s multi-service, every-day Super App.

Single, unified smartphone application serving people’s local, daily needs, this Careem Super App provides services across three areas 1). Mobility of People: cars, bike, rickshaw, 2). Mobility of Things: food, daily-essentials, pharma, deliveries etc and 3). Mobility of Money: peer-to-peer, mobile recharge, bill payments etc.

Staggering amount of US$ 50 million is invested in developing this Careem Super Application (Super App), which is driven by 500 colleagues in the tech team and will serve 33 million customers from Morocco to Pakistan will have the Super App from end June 2020 – roll out started March 2020

Careem, the leading internet platform for a rapidly growing region extending from Morocco to Pakistan is now the region’s first everyday Super App. As a Super App, Careem will provide multiple services alongside its core business of ride hailing. From the end of June 2020, an expanded range of services will be available to all of Careem’s 33 million registered users and 1.7 million Captains across 13 countries and over 100 cities. Careem began expanding its core business initially with food and delivery in 2019 and is now offering services across three areas: Mobility of People, Mobility of Things and Mobility of Money.

“The move from offline to online commerce is a secular and significant opportunity, one that has accelerated as a result of the global pandemic. Careem’s Super App supports this acceleration by bringing together people’s essential, everyday services in one place, with a single sign-on and integrated payment system. We are tailoring products and services to local needs so that people with busy lives can get right to the services that are important to them when they need them”, said Mudassir Sheikha, Co-Founder and CEO of Careem.

Careem’s Super App reduces the time a person will spend looking for the right app, whilst making it simple and easier for customers to use multiple services. According to research from Apptopia, ride hailing and food delivery apps are amongst the top 10 most used apps – often used on a daily basis. Combining the two will allow users to combine tasks more efficiently.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO Uber said: “the Super App is Careem’s big bet for the wider Middle East region, and we’re excited by the positive, early signs we’re seeing, as people increasingly adopt digital services in their daily lives. I’ve been hugely impressed by the Careem team, as they have moved fast during the pandemic to innovate and meet changing consumer demand”.

On the Careem Super App, customers can now arrange a ride with one of Careem’s Captains, order food from over 10,000 partner restaurants across the region, and order daily essentials from supermarkets, pharmacies or other businesses. The Super App user can also choose a business not yet on the Super App and have goods purchased and picked up by a Captain and delivered to wherever they are. Every customer has access to Careem PAY – making it simple to pay for all services in a secure way. People can also transfer credit via Careem PAY to pay back family and friends or easily split a bill. Careem has also expanded its Rewards scheme.  Super App customers now earn rewards points on every ride and order. Rewards points can be redeemed for discounts on rides, food, partner services or donated to a wide range of charities.

Captains – both car and bike will experience changing demands throughout the day. Increased demand across the Super App will provide Captains greater earnings and opportunities to serve more customers in more ways – this is particularly relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic. By spending less time waiting for rides and more time earning, Captains will get more out of their time with Careem.

The Super App enables merchants to partner with Careem and expand their business by expanding their customer base, payments and logistic capabilities. Partners will gain access to Careem’s 33 million registered users, Careem PAY payments infrastructure, along with a fast growing network for last mile delivery (LMD).

Careem’s purpose is to make people’s everyday life simpler, so that they can realize their potential and spend time on things they care about most. Becoming a Super App and simplifying the lives of people in the region in more ways is aligned with its purpose and is a natural evolution of the business to stay ahead of customer demands and market capabilities.

From a business performance perspective, Careem expects to see increased revenues, lower customer acquisition costs and improved customer retention metrics through cross selling and customer use of multiple products and services. Over time, Careem will open its Super App to 3^rd parties and developers to build their own services to live on Careem’s Super App platform.

The roll-out of Careem’s Super App started in March 2020 and is expected to complete by the end of June 2020.

 

The ‘Koblumpi Music Festival’ rocked the capital city with over 8 hours of non-stop performances.

Pakistani music icon Mekaal Hasan, event expert Mehreen Rana of Origami and live sound extraordinaire Imran Mirza proudly hosted the second edition of The Koblumpi Music Festival – powered by Nescafe Basement, in the capital city of Islamabad at Bani Gala on 9^th February 2020. This music festival being one of the first ticketed music events in recent years featured over 8 hours of non-stop power-packed live performances.

The Koblumpi Music Festival’s Islamabad Chapter featured 16 amazing artists and bands from across Pakistan including Takatak, Karakoram, Maanu, Natasha Noorani, Mekaal Hasan Band, Poor Rich Boy, Keeray Makorey, Ali Noor, Jasim and The Pindi Boys, Ali Suhail, Sikandar Ka Mandar, Saakin, Amena Farooq, Haniya Alsam, Natasha Humera Ejaz and Uzair Jaswal. In attendance were music enthusiasts from Islamabad along with celebrities and personalities such as Ahmed Ali Akbar, Ali Rehman Khan, Asim Azhar and Ayesha Omar to name a few.

Ali Noor

Ali Suhail

Haniya Aslam

Karakoram

Maanu

Mekaal Hasan

Natasha Noorani

Saakin

Takatak

 

Organized in partnership with Lotus PR, The Koblumpi Music Festival, powered by Nescafe Basement, was an all afternoon family and community festival, from 12 noon to 9 pm, featuring a wide range of independent and mainstream artists from across the country with a focus on original music, added activities for kids and families, as well as a huge array of food stalls and refreshments. The Koblumpi team aimed to provide an atmospheric experience bringing people together to enjoy a great, music-filled afternoon with their friends and families.

 

Indeed, The Koblumpi Music Festival is an artist driven independent music festival which seeks to connect performers of original content with their potential audience base and isone of the first ticketed music events in Pakistan in recent years.

The Koblumpi Music Festival consists of Festival Director Mehreen Rana, Show Director Mekaal Hasan, Imran Mirza as the Audio Partner, Danish Qureshi as Lead Designer, Ali Khan as Creative Director, O Events as the event partner, with FM91 as the radio partner, News-One and TV-One as the TV partner, Careem as the technology partner, Waste Busters as the waste management partners and Lotus Client Management & Public Relations as the official communications and public relations partners.

Photography by: Tayyab Naveed

You can now book ‘Careem’ via your WhatsApp.

Careem has introduced a new convenient way for customers to book their Careem rides through WhatsApp. With millions of people using WhatsApp messenger daily in Pakistan, it is the next step to making mobility in your city even more readily available.

Ride-hailing applications like Careem are a relatively new concept and were introduced in Pakistan just a few years ago but WhatsApp penetration continues to be extremely high. Allowing customers to book a Careem via WhatsApp simplifies the process, provides an alternative for people who aren’t familiar with ride-hailing apps, and enables Careem to bring improved mobility to millions more.

How to Book a Ride on WhatsApp: The process of booking is as simple as sending a message. Before you can send Careem a message, ​you  must save the number 0311-1555169 in your contacts as Careem to make sure it shows up on WhatsApp. Once you have saved this number, here are the steps to follow:

STEP 01: ​Say “Hi” to Careem. You will immediately get a reply asking for your location.

STEP 02:​ Click the safety pin icon in your WhatsApp conversation and respond with “Your Current Location”. Careem will then ask you to choose a number corresponding to the “Car Type” you want to use.

STEP 03:​ Reply with a number corresponding to the “Car Type” you want to choose. For example press 2 for “GO” car type. Once the car type is confirmed, you will receive details of your Captain and vehicle in the conversation.

STEP  04:​ Wait for your Captain to arrive. Don’t forget to rate your Captain at the end of the ride. Here is a video with a step by step guide on how to book a Careem using WhatsApp.

Mr. Zeeshan Hasib Baig, General Manager Careem Pakistan, said on the occasion, “with​ the ability to book a Careem through WhatsApp, we want to ensure that customers with low-end smart-phones and data bandwidth limitations have a seamless experience when using our ride hailing services. As the internet platform for the Greater Middle East and Pakistan, Careem continues to constantly disrupt itself to make sure that Pakistan accelerates even more quickly towards a digital future”.

WhatsApp booking for Careem has been launched across Pakistan and all car types can be booked through it. Payment for WhatsApp bookings can be made either through credits in your Careem PAY account (if the option has been enabled in your Careem App) or cash.

In order to track your ride or share it with your family or friends, Careem will send you a tracking link with your booking details (Car, Captain, Plate no etc).

One thing to keep in mind is that the WhatsApp booking feature is available for customers registered with Careem through their phone number. For customers who do not have a registered number on the application will not be able to book a ride through WhatsApp.