LAHORE – Pakistani Dr Umar Saif has been appointed as the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Chair for usingInformation and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD).

This is the first international UNESCO Chair in the field of ICTD and willhelp Pakistan become a centre of excellence in using Information Technologyfor development, especially use of technology to address the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), according to a press release.

“This UNESCO chair is a huge honour for Pakistan and is a recognition ofour work in using technology to solve problems of the developing world,including access to education, better healthcare, technology-enabledagriculture practices, rural Internet connectivity and digital financialinclusion,” the PITB chief said.

“This chair will help Pakistan become a global hub of ICTD… with this, ITUwill establish collaborations with world-leading universities such asUnited Nations University (UNU), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and theUniversity of Washington,” he added.

Dr Umar Saif, who heads the Punjab Information Technology Board overlookingall public sector IT projects in the country’s most populous province, is agraduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CambridgeUniversity. He is the first Pakistani to be named as one of the top 35innovators in the world by MIT Technology Review (TR35) in 2011, and aYoung Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010.

Saif is also the only Pakistani who has received the Google FacultyResearch Award, Mark Weiser Award, MIT Technovator Award and MicrosoftResearch Digital Inclusion Award. He was also awarded the British CouncilOutstanding Alumni Award in 2017.

He was bestowed the Sitara-e-Imtiaz by Pakistan Government in 2014, and hasbeen named among the most influential Muslims in the world in 2014-2018.