Being at the hub of technological innovation and aiming to accelerate the pace of digitization, Telenor Pakistan organized a first of its kind thought leadership forum titled ‘Digitizing Pakistan through APIs’ at its 345 Campus. The event was attended by industry experts, government and semi-government officials, digital entities, small and large businesses, startups, digital distribution and retail partners in addition to Telenor Pakistan’s top management.
The event aimed to discuss the role of APIs in instituting an open innovation paradigm which is key for democratizing digitization and transformation at the national level. As industry experts spoke about the role of APIs in transforming their digital landscape, the discussions surrounded how leading industries are enabling internal digitization as well as extending their core expertise to external entities via APIs. The conference also underscored Telenor Pakistan’s leading role in digitally transforming the country especially through initiatives like Telenor API Portal that enables businesses, SMEs and the startup community to use Telenor APIs in the areas of identity, communication, top-up and direct carrier billing to name a few.
“Telenor Pakistan is at the forefront in enabling the digital ecosystem in the country and events like these give us the opportunity to exchange learning with different industries and sectors,” said Khurrum Ashfaque, Chief Technology Officer, Telenor Pakistan and Cluster CTO Emerging Asia, Telenor Group. “Through this forum, we not only aim to promote collaboration on building an open API ecosystem, but also pave the way for the massive API economy that the world is gearing up for. APIs create possibilities for digital interaction that we have come to expect and rely upon today and it’s only by forging partnerships and engaging our own business & tech talent in an open API environment that we can stitch together functions and build creative solutions to get informed, entertained, do business, run errands, and build a better tomorrow.”
The talks were moderated by Khawaja Obaidullah, Head of Partnerships & BizDev at Telenor Pakistan with experts from Easypaisa, Wavetec, NADRA, FBR (Customs) and Code for Pakistan sharing their experiences around building solutions using APIs. The panel discussion revolved around the role that APIs can play in enabling open innovation, collaboration and transformation at the national level. The panelists shared examples from their specific industries and discussed the role that Telenor Pakistan can play in enabling this interaction. The panel discussion was followed by a showcase of Telenor Pakistan’s API product portfolio and portal, followed with teams demonstrating current API and B2B offerings.
APIs are considered the building blocks that enable innovation and put the world at our fingertips today. From desktops or devices, one can purchase, post, pin, and pick anything, anywhere due to APIs. Telenor Pakistan’s focus on the API ecosystem came under the spotlight in 2017 when the company launched its API Gateway Project which enabled it to introduce its own developer portal. Since then, the company has worked closely with key stakeholders and continues to help build and promote a robust API ecosystem in Pakistan.
