In 2004, the Government of Pakistan acknowledged the animation sector as a core and profitable component of software development, initiating a project in which 40 graduates were selected for placement through an apprenticeship scheme in some of Pakistan’s premier animation companies.  Most of these graduates went on to find permanent places in those very firms. The project ended in the last quarter of fiscal year 2005, with some of Pakistan’s leading animation firms, such as Anivista, Jin Technologies, Post Amazers and White Rice, having benefited from the campaign.

BPO
Business process outsourcing is an emerging concept that gives numerous cost advantages over the conventional in-house development. Already, many of the fortune 500 companies have established their offshore development centers in Asia to reduce their cost and sky-rocket the profit. The BPO industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan, with exports up by 45 percent in the fiscal year 2003-4 alone. 

Pakistan has a large untapped labor pool of English-proficient graduates willing to work at wages 60% below their US counterparts. Furthermore, consolidated operating costs are estimated roughly 30% lower in Pakistan as compared to India or Philippines, two of Asia’s major BPO contenders. The Government has provided numerous incentives and is willing to invest heavily in the infrastructure required to jumpstart growth in the BPO sector. Pakistan has one of the fastest growing cellular industries in the world.  This, along with the fast-growing Karachi Stock Exchange, has put the country in the spotlight of corporate managers worldwide. This positive tone has been seconded by a Harvard Business School analysis, entitled "Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) opportunities in Pakistan". The report touts 30 percent savings in costs in Pakistan as opposed to India, along with infrastructure advantages such as high-speed connectivity in all the major cities at competitive rates. 

One of the largest offshore controlled companies, The Resource Group, is also operating in Pakistan. Its business consists of taking controlling stakes in business services companies in North America and Western Europe, and repositioning them for growth using a global service delivery model. TRG was founded in 2002 and currently has $185 million in revenues, with over 4,000 employees in 24 facilities worldwide. TRG's current focus is on the teleservices industry, where, through its portfolio companies, it provides voice, Web and email-based contact center services to small businesses, as well as Fortune 500 companies. TRG also provides offshore back-office services such as finance functions, software development, data processing, IT helpdesk, marketing and administrative support. Touchstone BPO, Ovex, Infospan, ARY Communications (Pvt.) Ltd. Associated Consulting (Pvt.) Ltd., Ensign Communique (Pvt.) Ltd., Mindbridge (Pvt.) Ltd., Quest Marketing, SNL Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. are some of the other leading BPO companies.

ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is perhaps one of the toughest and most demanding software solutions to provide to any client, involving the complete automation of the customer’s company processes. ERP comes in two basic forms: customized ERP (software made as per the demands and needs of the client) or standard ERP (a solution such as SAP that can be bought ‘off the shelf’ to be implemented). 

A number of leading IT firms in Pakistan, such as KalSoft (Pvt.) Ltd. in Karachi, are providing ERP solutions and enabling the recognition of Pakistan as an ERP solution provider.

Pakistan's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector is currently operating at a disadvantage. This is primarily because a majority of the manufacturing and planning processes are either not automated, or, if automated, are not being utilized to their fullest potential. In order to close this gap, PSEB's ‘Automation of Domestic Industry on Open Source Systems’ project is underway for developing complete ERP solutions to automate the processes and procedures for the SMEs in HR & Payroll, Finance, Inventory, Production and Sales in those sectors of the economy which have the highest export potential. The ERP solutions are being developed using open source software code, allowing for further enhancements to be made to the applications as per the needs of the units.  The project has collaborated with software consulting companies with expertise in developing/implementing ERP solutions for the industry.  These companies include NetSol and ITIM Associates along with Acrologix. To date, two solutions have been deployed and are in the testing phase.

Gaming
Computer games are now a huge market with firms such as Electronic Arts and Capcom investing billions of dollars into the industry, and earning similar amounts through the widespread fame and sales of hits such as FIFA 2005, the Prince of Persia trilogies, Halo and Counter Strike etc. Game development is emerging in Pakistan’s IT Industry as well with some serious work being done in the field indicating progress.  One such example is Commando 4, Pakistan’s first ever 3D animation game developed by MicroPoint. 

Another major player in Pakistan’s Gaming Industry is Soft flux which was founded in January 2005.  The company targets the exploding mobile gaming industry. In July 2005, Micromiles released Cap Snap, a mobile game for Nokia and Siemens mobiles, a successful launch which was followed by the development of a website for mobile games (gameknock.com). 

With the IT leaders of the country realizing the potential of the game development market, Pakistan’s IT industry is making more investments to develop country’s own gaming industry.

Convergence
Pakistan is fast heading towards the convergence of IT, telecom and other services, and IT & Telecom have great importance for the country.  The country is responding rapidly to the era of convergence and coming up with the appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks to go hand in hand with the converged networks.

Technology convergence in the telecom and the IT sectors has led to service and company convergence. During the last decade, liberalization of the telecom sector in countries where it was a State monopoly has spawned intense competition within and across borders. The rise of consumerism and the need to anticipate consumer demand have been a catalyst to convergence of services. This has in turn inspired innovation in communication technologies.  

The trend is clearly evident; traditional telecom operators have started offering audio-visual programming and Internet access. Cable TV operators are rolling out a variety of telecom services including voice telephony. Cable modems are deployed to provide high-speed Internet access. Broadcasters are switching over to program bouquets, pay per view and experimenting with digital transmission in more advanced countries.  Technological changes are leading towards growing demand and innovations are significantly modifying the structural features of the telecom industry with emerging convergence across fixed, mobile, Information Technology (IT) and media sectors. 

Wavetec, Innov8, Mobile Complete and PixSense are some of the leading companies in Pakistan who have made achievements in this field. Wavetec offers specialized information display systems; Innov8 has contributed solutions for mobile transaction management; PixSense has launched an application offering web and mobile technology convergence for sharing video and picture files.

Web 2.0
The name Web 2.0 refers to a combination of improved communication between people via social-networking technologies, improved communication between separate software applications via open Web standards for describing and accessing data, and improved Web interfaces that mimic the real-time responsiveness of desktop applications within a browser window. 

In general, Web 2.0 refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services - such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies - that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. 

Significant progress has been made by Pakistan in this arena as well with a number of featured examples of Web 2.0 technology utilization. 

iScrybe – iScrybe is an exciting Web 2.0 application and sets a benchmark of how Web 2.0 applications work offline and online at the same time.  iScrybe has been named Cool Vendor in PC Technologies by Gartner Research Group.  

Rozee.com.pk – Rozee.com.pk is the online job portal of Naseeb Network and has practically created the online job market in Pakistan.  

A number of other firms are creating cutting edge Web 2.0 portals. Pakistan leads the offshore nations in their technology expertise and experience with keeping up with the trends. There may be fewer firms at this time but in terms of quality and value-for-money, Pakistani firms are far ahead than others in the region.