‘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.

Paymob and PAFLA Sign MOU to Fuel Growth in Pakistan’s Freelance Market.

Paymob, the leading omni-channel payments gateway, and financial technology enabler in MENAP  and Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate payments acceptance for freelancers in Pakistan.   

The MOU will allow freelancers to seamlessly accept payments in a secure ecosystem via the Paymob payments gateway. Gaining access to a variety of digital payments methods enables freelancers in Pakistan to offer their services to a global marketplace. 

Pakistan is one of the world’s fastest growing freelance markets. In 2021 it reported a 47% increase in growth over the previous year and was ranked the largest freelance market in Asia. Spurred by the global gig economy, the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a young, digital native population, limitations in payments acceptance have been a hindrance to growth. The partnership between Paymob and PAFLA will bridge that gap. 

Fawad Abdul Kader, Paymob’s Country Manager in Pakistan shared his views by saying; “Pakistan has constantly been the fourth fastest growing freelancing market in the world with the revenue summed up to $500,000, it is opening its employment avenues for the young professionals”.

He further said; “our partnership creates opportunities for the freelance community to thrive and gain access to the latest payment technologies in Pakistan via this gateway”.  

PAFLA, led by Tufail Ahmed Khan, was founded as a non-profit organization to empower and encourage Pakistani freelancers through mentoring, providing opportunities, collaborating with government, industry, and academia. It draws out a platform along with support groups to help them grow their career and overcome challenges.  

Ibrahim Amin, Co-Founder of PAFLA said; “we are honored to partner with Paymob which has pioneered an innovative fin-tech solution for the freelancers in Pakistan. This easy digital payment method will enable the freelancer to thrive more in their field. It is a great opportunity for freelancers to encounter innovation and enhance their skills”.  

About Paymob: Paymob is the leading financial services enabler in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), delivering the latest financial technologies to customers in the region. Its omni-channel gateway offers more than 30 payment methods and empowers over 120,000 SME merchants to manage and scale their businesses by giving them access to financial services not readily available in emerging markets. 

Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, Paymob is the largest payments facilitator in North Africa and employs 1,100 team members across MENAP. The company launched operations in Pakistan in 2021.  Paymob was founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa Menessy.  Visit www.paymob.com for more information.