The Pakistani innovator: Dr Umar Saif

If you thought innovation was a word not associated with Pakistan , you would be very wrong. This year, the MIT Technology Review, one of the world’s most prestigious technology publications, included Pakistani Dr Umar Saif, in their global list of the top 35 innovators under 35.

Thirty-two year old Saif, currently an associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), now shares this honor with an elite club including, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jonathan Ive of Apple, and the co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Saif was propped into the limelight for creating BitMate, which he calls the “poor man’s broadband system” and SMSall.pk, which enables mass SMSes to be sent out. BitMate and SMSall.pk,were both developed by Dr Saif and a team of his students at LUMS. 

BitMate,allows different users in the same area, to pool the bandwidth of their connections to reduce download times, typically by half. More than 4 billion SMSes have been sent using SMSall.pk, by around 2.7 million users. It is now Pakistan’s largest SMS social network. Major political parties, NGOs, schools, and corporations use this platform.

Currently, Saif is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at LUMS where he leads a team of students in the Dritte initiative,which aims to create technology that will foster development.
Dr Saif, is now working with this team of students on taking SMSall to the next level. They are working on speech systems that will allow for mass voice messaging. Saif believes it is an essential step in a country where many cannot read or write. Other platforms that Dr Saif has initiated include Geodost.tv and iSamaa.tv, which are powered by SeeNreport, a platform developed in an attempt to give a boost to citizen journalism in Pakistan.

Saif has also founded one of Pakistan’s first start-up incubators in Lahore, Pakistan, called the Saif Center of Innovation .

“Not everyone can be a superstar here,” conceded Saif. “A system needs to be in place where every member of the team can be productive.” MIT, he insists works like a well-oiled machine. The researchers have proper funding in place, the strong student body and the availability of your peers means, one knows where to go with one’s ideas.

The vice chancellor of LUMS:  "Saif’s work demonstrates not only the potential for innovation in technology for development but also the level of enterprise and expertise that already exists within Pakistan and the larger developing world."


Details: Dawn News