Dr Umar Saif elected as the 2nd Chairman of MIT Enterprise Forum of Pakistan

Lahore: Head of Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore and Punjab IT Board (PITB) Dr. Umar Saif has been elected as Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan (MITEFP) in its annual meeting of Board of directors held at Karachi last day.

Dr. Saif is the second elected chairman replacing Farooq Captain who kept the office for past eight years since the forum came into being.

The meeting was attended among others by renowned entrepreneurs Azher Rizvi, Danish Lakhani, Naeem Zamindar, Naveed Siraj & Dr. Zaheer Syed.  MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) connects and coaches technology entrepreneurs—enabling them to rapidly transform ideas into world-changing companies. It is a global network of local organizations, inspired by MIT, and open to the world.

Dr. Umar Saif’ said on the occasion the he had a clear vision to build a better world by accelerating the creation and growth of world-class tech companies and by helping university graduates and start-ups to get better guidance , supervision and mentorship from the worlds renowned entrepreneurs and IT professionals. He further assured to strengthening of the Business Acceleration Program (BAP) under which the top group of participants is sent to the Silicon Valley for three years training by the MITEFP.

The primary mission of MITEFP is to improve the economic well-being of the people of Pakistan through the development of an Entrepreneurship Promotion Program for Pakistan. This is in line with the MITEF global mission i.e. the promotion of formation and growth of innovative and technologically-oriented companies through specialized executive education programs. Through these programs, the Forum provides networking, leadership opportunities, and life-long connections to MIT while showcasing MIT’s role in entrepreneurship in communities around the world.

While talking about his future plans, Dr. Umar Saif said “I will prefer to focus on exploring a program to incubate spin-offs from within established tech companies i.e. program for corporate entrepreneurship. Another focus area would be MIT 100K-style platform for match-making of teams and refining of ideas before BAP. We’ll also hold talks, seminars, and workshops around entrepreneurship, science and technology on this prestigious platform.”

The participants congratulated Dr. Saif and hoped he would continue the efforts to reinforce on going programs of MITEFP.