Cyberia

Pakistan will replace its leased Paksat-I satellite with the new Geo-Synchronous Orbit (GSO) satellite, for which an agreement will be signed with a foreign firm, official sources told Business Recorder.

The project, Pakistan Telecommunication Satellite System (Paksat-IR) , worth Rs 17.594 billion, will be considered by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in its meeting on March 26.

Sources said the prime objective of the project is to design, develop/manufacture and launch a GSO communication satellite to replace the existing leased satellite Paksat-I, located at 38° East, by early 2011. The new communication satellite (Paksat -1R) will have 30 transponders, 12 in C-Band and 18 in Ku-Band, each of 36 MHz Bandwidth, they added. They said that the strategic objectives of the project are (i) to enter into a long-term relationship with the satellite manufacturer for acquiring know-how and transfer of technology (KHTT) to produce various kinds of satellites in future, with the ultimate aim of achieving self-reliance in this field/area; (ii) to establish, maintain and operate necessary satellite ground control stations for controlling Paksat-1R from within Pakistan; (iii) encourage participation of local industry in this project to the maximum feasible extent; (iv) design, assembly, integration and testing of both space and ground segments and gradually move towards undertaking the same activities for all subsystems of communication satellite; and (v) through Paksat Intl (Pvt) Ltd, market Paksat -1R transponder capacity to government and private sectors at competitive prices.

Sources said that the project is in line with the MTDF 2005-10 objectives and would provide better satellite communications for Pakistan. The project is planned to be financed through federal PSDP, ie, 15 percent of contract value of $222.26 million and 85 percent of contract value through long-term concessional foreign loan.

According to sources, the project would increase the teledensity and would introduce the latest satellite communication facilities in the country. Ecnec Chairman had granted anticipatory approval of Rs1089.176 million, including foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs 894.323 million on May 21, 2008.

Sources said the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) considered the project in its meeting on April 30, 2008 and recommended that Suparco and Strategic Planning Division (SPD) will jointly endeavour to strike the best deal, keeping in view the quality of satellite and its related accessories, etc.

They said that a proper agreement would be signed with the manufacturers for the transfer of technology and training of the Supraco team. Suparco will hire best manpower for best possible technology transfer. According to sources, an independent project monitoring group, comprising representatives from Finance Division, Planning Commission and SPD, will oversee the project properly.

SPD would not only take due diligence of the scope, technical specifications and associated costs of the project, but would also ensure maximum transparency in the tendering, contracting/ procurement processes.

Microsoft said Friday that a control panel in its next-generation computer operating system will let users shut off Internet Explorer 8 and other built-in programs. The news comes less than two months after the European Commission sent Microsoft a Statement of Objections accusing the US software giant of unfairly tying Internet Explorer (IE) to Windows.

“In Windows 7 we are…giving customers more control, flexibility and choice in managing the features available in this version of Windows,” Microsoft documents and printing team group program manager Jack Mayo wrote in an engineering blog post. “For any of the features listed you can change the state to enable it or disable it.”

Opera Software filed a complaint with the commission in 2007 accusing Microsoft of denying Windows users “a real choice of browser.” Mozilla, maker of the popular Firefox browser, has also objected to the bundling of IE with Windows. A Windows Features control panel will let users place check marks indicating which programs they want enabled and turn applications off by leaving boxes blank, according to Mayo.

The US governments director for cybersecurity resigned on Friday, criticising the excessive role of the National Security Agency in countering threats to the countrys computer systems. “He has tendered his resignation,” Amy Kudwa, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman told Reuters.

Former Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rod Beckstrom said in a resignation letter published by the Wall Street Journal it was a “bad strategy” to have the National Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Defence, play a major role in cybersecurity.

Beckstrom headed the National Cybersecurity Center, which was created last March to co-ordinate all government cybersecurity efforts and answers to the Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security said in a statement that it has a strong relationship with the NSA and continues to work closely with all of its partners to protect the countrys cyber networks. Beckstrom wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday in his resignation letter that the NSA currently dominates most national cyber efforts.

Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) has expressed serious concern over the attitude of recovery officials of different commercial banks, who allegedly harass the customers for delay in credit card payments.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Munawar Iqbal, President PCA said that the customers are being forced to pay as much as 48 percent and in some cases even exorbitantly higher interest rates, for no fault of theirs, which is adding to the miseries of already under pressure customers. The collection and recovery staff mostly come at the time when only ladies and children are at homes, he alleged.

He said that the ongoing credit card schemes being offered by some commercial banks, is creating serious liquidity problems for small and medium income groups for repayment of higher interest. He said that the sales staff /employees of the banks allured and hooked the innocent customers cunningly by false attractive offers while concealing vital facts as a result of none/ short payments and now they were busy harassing the same customers, whom they have already fleeced by huge hidden charges and compound interest.

North European countries and South Korea have the most advanced telecoms and computer development in the world, the UN’s telecommunications agency said Monday. Sweden came on top of the International Telecommunications Union’s latest five yearly index on computer development, followed by South Korea, which gained two places, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway.

All of the 154 countries managed to improve their rating in 2007 – the most recent year for which statistics for all communications categories are available – with the exception of 117th placed Myanmar, the table showed. The improvements were largely down to greater access – the availability of technology and infrastructure.

But use, which is often tied to education or skills and individual wealth, was progressing at a much slower rate, the ITU said. The top 20 was dominated by high income countries in Europe, North America and Asia in a largely unchanged pattern over 2002.

Poor countries remain at the lower end of the table with limited access to infrastructure for fixed or mobile telecoms networks, Internet and broadband, according to the ITU. But they are the world’s biggest cellphone users.

Several developing or emerging countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Vietnam, were among the most dynamic areas of overall IT growth. Pakistan in 127th place was the fastest growing after it registered almost no computer access or usage five years earlier, the ITU said. By 2007, eight percent of households had computers and Internet penetration reached 10.7 percent.

Pakistan’s global IT revenue, with an average growth of around 50 percent per annum, is expected to realise the targets by the end of financial year 2009-10. The country’s IT sector, over the last few years, has been growing at a remarkable rate and, to meet the future objectives, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) is focusing on the growth of skilled human resource.

Keeping in view its prime objective–development of future workforce–the Board has devised an open door policy for the provision of financial subsidies, technical support and partnerships not only for the IT companies but also for the educational institutions.

In this respect, the PSEB is working with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to augment the influx of quality graduates into the industry, said an official at the Board. It had launched an Internship Programme to undertake match making between fresh IT graduates and IT companies and to provide grooming to graduates where necessary.

This programme is also aimed towards the development of confidence among Pakistan’s IT business managers regarding output of IT-oriented educational institutions. So far, more than 3300 graduates from 220 universities and institutes across the country have been placed in 250 IT companies and IT departments of public and private sector organisations for a period of three months.

The retention rate by the IT companies has been more than 80 percent, and another 10-50 percent received job offers from other organisations because of their internship experience. This permanent retention rate is the highest of any Internship Program in the country. In Internships Phase-III, interns are being paid a revised stipend of Rs 6,000 per month for a period of 3 months.

Over 1,600 students will benefit from this revised programme in the next one year. A web portal will also be established to further streamline the process. According to officials, PSEB is also facilitating the graduates as well as the IT companies by acting as a liaison point for provision of quality graduates that match the companies’ requirements.

It also provides ongoing training and industry-standard certifications to professionals, and undertakes research to benchmark IT professionals and graduates in the country. Officials said that to sustain and improve growth, IT companies in Pakistan need around 235,000 working professionals by the end of 2009-10. Currently, that number is a little above 100,000, and approximately 135,000 more professionals are needed in the next two years.

India will allow local and overseas firms to offer wireless telecoms services without owning networks or spectrum, the government said on Wednesday, accepting a recommendation from the telecoms regulator.

Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) rent radio airwaves and networks from existing telecoms firms and sell mobile services to customers, a model popular in mature telecoms markets like North America, Europe and East Asia.

In the wake of global crunch and financial meltdown, Microsoft Pakistan has introduced solutions aimed primarily at the business segment. Under the initiative, Microsoft aims to deploy end-to-end server solutions which will enhance business efficiency through provision of a virtual work environment and also allow firms cost-savings as against stand-alone products.

Under the campaign Microsoft will be marketing two of its premiere server products Essential Business Server (EBS) and Small Business Server (SBS), catering to medium and small scale organisations in Pakistan.

“Most mid-size businesses need to reduce complexity of their IT infrastructure; protect their business assets and increase employee impact and effectiveness”, said Shahzad Khan Manager OEM Business, Microsoft Pakistan. He further said “technology that is familiar and easy to use can play an important role in helping businesses improve productivity and adapt to, even capitalise on, competition and economic uncertainty”

While informing the partners about the challenges and risks faced in the current environment, he emphasised on ways through which SMEs can reduce costs and compete with software to improve efficiency, reliability and flexibility. The EBS and SBS servers are based on groundbreaking innovations that dramatically simplify the deployment, ongoing management, and use of server technology. Microsoft has strategically introduced a family of server solutions designed to suit the varying needs of different businesses thereby allowing SMEs to choose and select the server that best suits their own unique needs.

Addressing the participants on the Launch, Fareed Mohammed Khan, Engagement Manager Microsoft Enterprise Services for Pakistan & Afghanistan commented: “Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) employ 90% of the world’s workforce and account for more than 50% of GDP world-wide. The EBS and the SBS have been specifically designed and priced for SMEs to ensure less complexity, greater control and growth of business capacity.”

Now, with Windows Small Business Server (SBS) and Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008, Small and mid-sized businesses have a tailor made server with key software integrated in one product. Not only does the component software come at a substantial savings over comparable stand-alone products, the simplicity of the server license and CAL licensing are cost-saving and efficient.

Singapore is the world leader in terms of innovation and competitiveness while South Korea ranks fifth and Japan ninth, according to a report released here on Wednesday.

Other countries in the top 10 of the study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) were Sweden (2), Luxembourg (3), Denmark (4), the United States (6), Finland (7), Britain (8) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) region of Canada, Mexico and the United States (10).

Other Asia-Pacific region countries in the top 40 included Australia (19), China (33) and India (40). The 15 Western European countries in the European Union, the EU-15, ranked 18th.

The study by the ITIF, a non-partisan think-tank based in Washington, used 16 indicators in six key areas to come up with the rankings: human capital, innovation capacity, entrepreneur-ship, information technology infrastructure, economic policy factors and economic performance. Measured differently, in terms of progress on the 16 indicators over the last decade, China topped the rankings, and the United States finished 40th, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said.

Singapore was second followed by Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Russia, Cyprus and Japan. India ranked 14th, South Korea 17th and Australia 32nd. The EU-15 region ranked 28th in terms of change since 1999.

“This study is based on the importance of benchmarking global competitiveness and innovation on a variety of factors, not simply policy factors or economic performance,” said ITIF President Rob Atkinson.

“In today’s global economy, it’s important to look at the competitiveness of the United States, Europe, Asia and the rest of the world based on a variety of factors – not just one.” “We found that the United States performs well when compared to the rest of the world, leading Europe, but is not the runaway leader that some recent studies have found it to be,” Atkinson said.

The ITIF said that “if the EU-15 region as a whole continues to improve at this faster rate than the United States, it would surpass the United States in innovation-based competitiveness by 2020.”

“All of the 39 other countries and regions studied have made faster progress toward the new knowledge-based innovation economy in recent years than the United States,” it said. The ITIF outlined “key policies that need to be pursued to turn around the decline in US innovation-based competitiveness.”

They included incentives for companies to innovate at home, being open to high-skill immigration, fostering a digital economy, supporting the kinds of institutions that are critical to innovation and ensuring that regulations and other related government policies support, not retard, innovation.