Sadia Kamran: How did the idea of the Digital Leader Awards (DLA), which began in 2023, come about?.

Ashifa Paracha: In 2017, we launched the Pakistan Digital Awards (PDA) with the vision of creating a platform that honoured digital innovations and campaigns in Pakistan. The idea was to recognise brands and professionals based on merit and to help bring them onto the global stage of the digital community. During this journey, we realised that individuals also started expecting us to recognise their work as digital leaders and this prompted us to launch the Digital Leader Awards. In addition to the awards, the DLA releases a book that is available on Amazon every year detailing the biographies and work of the top digital leaders of Pakistan.

SK: What was the objective behind DLA?

AP: The idea was to give 20 to 25 awards to individuals who introduced digital innovations at their companies and secured growth within their organisations through their leadership. At first, people weren’t aware of the awards or their significance, so we reviewed profiles of noteworthy individuals and my team and I nominated them for the awards last year. This year we formed a jury for the awards and received entries.

SK: Who were the jury members and what were the criteria for selecting them?

AP: The jury panel comprises individuals who have performed exceptionally in digitally transforming their sectors. This year’s jury comprised Jehan Ara of Katalyst Lab, Nadeem Hussain of Planet n Group – both recipients of a DLA last year – and Rabia Gharib of Toffee TV.

SK: How have the DLAs progressed?

AP: This year DLAs were presented to leaders from 20 different industries, including Salim Ghauri of Netsol Technologies from the technology sector, Raihan Merchant of Z2C from the marketing industry, Shaukat Ali Khan, Global CIO, Aga Khan University and Hospitals from the healthtech industry, and Ali Ihsan of FRAG Games from the gaming industry. These annual awards are helping us curate a list of leaders that can be readily used when international opportunities such as leadership exchange programs come up – we will know then who can represent Pakistan at such forums as they are part of the digital transformation landscape of Pakistan.

SK: What are the nomination criteria for participants?

AP: Nominees are required to answer questions regarding their achievements in the digital realm when entering the awards. They need to provide evidence of sustained superior performance in helping shape the development of the digital industry, be it by receiving a national or international award or by being invited to international platforms as speakers on digital transformation. The registration fee is $500 to discourage non-serious participants who register and later pressurise us to give them an award.

SK: How many individuals participated in 2024?

AP: We finalised around 28 registrations (some were rejected for not meeting our criteria) and we nominated eight individuals ourselves and presented them with the award. From this pool of 36 individuals, 20 individuals were awarded a DLA.

SK: What are the main award categories and how have they evolved over the last two years?

AP: There are no categories in DLA, unlike the PDA; for the DLA we choose one digital leader from various industries, including gaming, finance, marketing, healthcare, education, accounting, auditing, and telecom.

SK: How do you think this recognition of industry leaders contributes to Pakistan’s digital arena?

AP: The digital landscape of Pakistan is growing; 111 million users had internet connections and 188.9 million had active cellular mobile connections in early 2024. This growth aligns with the vision of our platform and these awards aim to inspire progress.

SK: Where does DLA derive its major financing from and who have been the major, long-lasting sponsors?

AP: The DLAs were sponsored by Fatima Fertilisers and Bank Al Falah. Last year the awards were sponsored by the Symmetry Group.

SK: What are the challenges of organising such events annually?

AP: The biggest challenge we face at the DLAs arises from the mindset that awards can be purchased. People send in nominations and then call us, quote a price and pressurise us to give them an award. We know that the moment an awards programme accepts money, it will lose its credibility and value in the market. There should be a Pakistani awards brand that people feel proud to be associated with so that when they go out in the world they are recognised for the digital innovations they have implemented and promote Pakistan positively in the international arenas. In conjunction with the awards, we also organise a conference.

SK: What was the conference about?

AP: The Digi Leaders Conference is attended by CEOs, CIOs, and CMOs of various companies, who are also the attendees of the DLA ceremony that takes place in the evening. They are part of panel discussions at the conference and come from various sectors, including agritech, edutech, healthtech, AI and media innovations.

SK: How do you see the awards progressing in the future?

AP: I have very high hopes for both award programmes – the PDAs and the DLAs. The winners of these awards will be well-recognised globally soon and receive international recognition. We plan to hold the awards abroad next year to recognise global digital leaders. These are all small steps in building a positive image of Pakistan and breaking the misconception that Pakistanis still live in caves!

Sadia Kamran is Marketing Manager and an English language instructor, Anees Hussain. sadiazam@yahoo.com