Okay-Electrical (KE) introduced the winners for the primary 7/11+ Innovation Problem in partnership with INNOVentures World at a day-long occasion held at Habib College in Karachi.
KE’s 7/11+ Innovation Problem is the primary of its type occasion in Pakistan’s utility market, designed for entrepreneurs, startups, researchers, and college college students to advertise and speed up strategic innovation. Members spent the primary half of the day making remaining pitches to the esteemed Jury adopted by a panel dialogue and award announcement within the second half. Chairman NEPRA, Tauseef H. Farooqi was additionally in attendance because the Chief Visitor.
The problem is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Growth Objectives (UNSDGs), significantly Objective 7 – entry to inexpensive, dependable, sustainable and fashionable power for all and Objective 11 – sustainable, inclusive, secure and resilient cities and communities. Okay-Electrical goals to spotlight the significance of revolutionary drawback fixing and significant pondering inside the public and supply a platform to convene organizations and people throughout Pakistan working on the essential intersection of sustainability and innovation.
Members from numerous scholastic backgrounds took half on this Innovation Problem in groups, starting in February of 2022 going by means of phases of pitches, capability constructing periods and targeted mentoring. The journey started with over 300 functions hailing from a number of startups, universities and related fields of examine out of which 10 groups made it to the finals.
Chatting with the viewers, Tauseef H Farooqi, the Chairman of Nationwide Electrical Energy Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) shared that “As a regulator, we have a tremendous responsibility towards society that extends beyond the creation of affordable, accessible and reliable energy supply. We must also support the community, through constant innovation and development. Under our Power with Prosperity, Power with Safety, Power with Equality, Power with Security and Power with Unity plans we have uplifted and transformed the socio-economic landscape of Pakistan aligned with the UNSDG’s to impact over 32 million lives, creating over 46,000 jobs including 8,400 jobs of women alone with over 32 Billion Rupees of financing. All this was aimed to promoting work-place safety, diversity and inclusion and security. Innovation is imperative for positive change and we must continue to strive for a better and brighter future.” Mr Farooqi additionally endorsed how Okay-Electrical, the one vertically built-in energy distribution firm in Pakistan, was stimulating grass-root degree impression by means of their greatest practices and serving as a job mannequin inside the energy sector.
“K-Electric is one of Pakistan’s most innovative utility companies making substantial improvements since privatization through investments and automation of its infrastructure. Deeply embedded in the very fabric of this great city, KE continues to positively contribute towards Karachi’s sustainable and innovative growth.” Said KE, Chief Government Officer, Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi. “Through KE’s 7/11+ Innovation Challenge we aim to create operational excellence, enhance customer experience, and optimize our supply chain and logistics to energise the city’s future in a sustainable and customer-centric way.”
The Innovation Problem Jury was made up of dynamic profiles within the present Pakistani innovation ecology together with Farhan Anwar, Assistant Professor of Observe Social Growth and Coverage at Habb College, Seher Abbas, Co-Chair, Karachi Hub Girls in Vitality & IFC, Sheikh Imranul Haq, Vitality Skilled, Shehryar Hydri, MP, Deosai Ventures, Shaista Ayesha, CEO of SEED Ventures, Naeem Zamindar, Founding father of Neem Financials and Naz Khan, CSO at KE. Collectively they chose the highest 10 finalists which included Ezbike with their electrical bike and battery swapping service, Ezgeyser with the sustainable power plan, Lorawan with meter studying retrofit, Novel Insulator with an insulator design, OptimaLoad with an answer to stability load on a transformer Orko with an utility to handle EV charging stations, Energy Distribution Enchancment with an environment friendly quick and long run demand forecasting method, Sensible Transformer Well being with a tool to watch well being of a transformer, Thingsty with IoT functions for home and business customers and Vtol Dynamics with drones for geospatial survey and monitoring. Complete money prize pool was three million PKRs – 1.5 million to the winner, 750,000 PKRs every for the primary and 2nd runner up.
After a rigorous and aggressive journey, the Vitality Informatics Firm of LUMS emerged because the winner for his or her Knowledge Analytics based mostly Prediction and Forecasting mannequin, whereas ezBike’s Electrical bike and charging infrastructure was awarded first runner up and NUST PNEC’s was the second runner up for his or her LoRaWan based mostly meter retrofit expertise able to incorporating sensible expertise on typical electrical energy meters.
Naz Khan, Okay-Electrical’s Chief Technique Officer stated “KE’s 7/11+ Innovation Challenge is a move to embrace innovation not just as a corporate social responsibility but as a strategic priority. At KE, we believe the emerging utilities landscape, post CTBCM, will require organizations like ours to go beyond the organizational boundaries and knowledge-bases to pilot and deploy the best ideas for the benefit of the society at large. The Innovation Challenge has enabled us to do just that by synergizing with some very talented individuals from start-ups, universities, and academia to create advanced solutions that will no doubt positively contribute to both KE and Karachi’s progressive development.”
Dr. Athar Osama, Managing Associate INNOVentures World, appreciated this novel innovation effort, “I am glad that KE has managed to establish this platform,” acknowledging how this was “the best way forward for corporate sector towards a transition to a developed economy.”
