Lahore, November 17, 2022 (PPI-OT):A large number of chief executive officers (CEOs), top–rated freelancers and bloggers gathered and directly interacted with the students at the University of Lahore (UOL) in a mega gathering of highly successful entrepreneurs from Pakistan for the purpose of strengthening industry and academic linkages.
During the high-level meet-up, industrialists, entrepreneurs, and academicians agreed to launch joint ventures and initiatives to further strengthen linkages between industry and academia that will create jobs for the university students. It was agreed that mutual collaboration is necessary to fully capitalise on the skills of graduating university students, especially in light of the rising unemployment rate.
Participants identified the gaps and difficulties that were hindering the advancement of academia and industry linkages and gave a number of ideas and proposals to address all those issues. They stressed the need for formulating long-term policies to further strengthen linkages between industries and academia. They further agreed to take pragmatic steps to increase the accessibility of financial and technical resources to ensure quality research in universities.
This mega-event, “Networking Dinner,” was organised by the Innovation Hub and the Lahore Business School (LBS) at the UOL in collaboration with the Connected Pakistan Conference 2022, aimed at empowering Pakistan’s future generations.
Mr. Awais Raoof (Chairman BoG, UOL), Ustad Nauman Ali Khan (a Muslim scholar from the US), Mr. Shehryar Khan Afridi (Member of the National Assembly), Mr. Amjad Saqib (Founder of the Akhuwat Foundation), Mr. Qasim Ali Shah (Chairman and Founder of the Qasim Ali Shah Foundation), Mr. Hisham Sarwar (Chief Executive Officer at
During the event, Fakhar Abbas (Head of Innovation Hub, UOL) welcomed all the CEOs for attending the Networking Dinner, hoping that the spirit of this gathering, which included tech entrepreneurs, Youtubers, and others, would prove fruitful for boosting the digital economy.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf (Rector, UOL) thanked all the CEOs and the participants on behalf of the UOL. He emphasised during his speech that coordination should be improved between industries and universities. He called for joint ventures, skills enhancement programs, and other interventions.
“We need to formulate a joint body that can carry out and implement all the proposals that are made today as well as making efforts to address all the major obstacles in the way of industries and academia collaboration.” He added.
Syed Arsalan Ali Shah (Founder and CEO, Connected Pakistan) said that he founded Connecting Pakistan in 2015 and started this project in 2016, but now it exists in every city of Pakistan. The conversation culminated with an emphasis on the need for academia and industry to collaborate to overcome the divide between the two. The wonderful dinner concluded with a chit-chat session between the CEOs and the participants.
Connected Pakistan is a technology-based social enterprise and an award-winning digital agency. The Connected Pakistan conference’s main goal is to instil a sense of motivation in the youth and every curious mind so that they can excel in the digital world. Youngsters, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and everyone who is interested in the world of innovation are part of this conference.
For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk