Digital FDI Initiative Pakistan 2025

Bridge the industry–academia gap through collaboration, policy interventions and capacity-buildingTHEME 5 Relevance Impact No. Option Effort Direct37Create a consortium to bridge the disconnect between academia and industry Low 38Provide internationally accredited digital-skills training to younger people – for example, through working with international organizations Low 39Encourage companies to take the initiative to train their employees and create training arms Low 40Create strong incentives for people to undertake vocational training as an alternative to tertiary IT education to meet the industry’s demand for skilled workers High Indirect41Encourage universities to use HEC’s IT education policy of allowing 30% of visiting faculty members by bringing in IT industry experts to teach students a market-driven curriculum Low 42Expand software technology parks in university campuses to reduce the talent gap by enabling exchange between faculty and industry and efficiently connecting companies with the right talent Low 43Digitalize HEC through the establishment of a small- scale cloud network to enable the proliferation of knowledge and increased access through distance- learning mechanisms Low 44Remove the PhD requirement for IT professors to enable a more skills- focused, market-experience- driven teaching faculty and curricula Medium 45Develop incentives to encourage schools to teach forward-looking and in-demand digital skills, such as animation, graphic design, video games and robotics HighDFDI pillars¹ DA ND DI OD High High Medium Policy options to support Theme 5: Bridge the industry–academia gap through collaboration, policy interventions and capacity-building Digital FDI Initiative: Digital FDI-Enabling Project in Pakistan 40