Amidst the coronavirus crises, Pakistan’s National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) is boosting the skills, motivation and productivity of its tenants and facilitating discussion and collaboration among them through digital platforms and initiatives.
The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has made it imperative to evolve the patterns of life while continuing growth and sustainability in all fields, including how we learn. Being a national platform, NSTP launched free online courses not only for its tenants but for startups and business founders all over Pakistan so that they are better equipped to cope with current circumstances. These online courses include Startup Law, Business Finance, Equity and Funding along with Term Sheets and Capitalization. Experienced industry experts conduct these courses in highly interactive manner. So far, more than 300 registrations have already been made with more entries still be received for upcoming courses.
To further support e-learning and to help startups develop skills, NSTP collaborated with NUST Professional Development Centre (PDC) to extend the latter’s E-Learning Platform (https://elearning.pdc.nust.edu.pk/) for NSTP. Webinars on the topics of Preparing for COVID-19, Effective Time Management and Managing Virtual Teams have already been conducted while more are planned on topics such as Mental Health during Pandemic and Leadership in the Time of Crisis. These webinars help NSTP tenants stay active and engaged while, developing new skills at the same time.
NSTP Innovation Team with the intention to keep all resident motivated, active and engaged connected with its tenants through online channels to see how their business is going, how they are dealing with challenges in the current environment and offered suggestions on how to navigate in this situation. Moreover, tenants are being connected with relevant stakeholders to help them convert the current situation into an opportunity by making appropriate adjustments in products, services and strategy. Furthermore, online mentoring sessions are being conducted for the startups so that they may seek expert advice. Tenants’ meetings with NSTP’s Intellectual Property team are also being facilitated digitally.
First “Networking and Ideation Session” session was also organised by NSTP for its Hi Tech SMEs and Cube 8 startups. During this session, CEOs of the Rapidev (http://www.rapidev.co/), APIMatic (https://www.apimatic.io/), Orbit Cygnus (https://www.orbit-ed.com/), Chattha Bio Care (http://www.cbcpak.com/), SWAMTech (http://chem.mysticbots.com/), Zambeel Machine Craft (https://www.zambeel.ltd/), DataBI (www.databi.me), MedDeliver and OREL Vision (www.orelvision.com) actively participated and discussed the challenges being faced in the current business environment and how they are converting these into opportunities. The attendees appreciated the efforts of NSTP and emphasized importance of regular interaction and resource sharing to maximize output and avoid layoffs. Going forward, tenants agreed to leverage their key competencies and resources to work on solutions against COVID-19 that can be deployed at national and international level.
