Digital Youth Summit

Peshawar is calling the next generation of digital innovators in Pakistan for Digital Youth Summit (DYS) 2014. It is a first of its kind technology conference and expo in Pakistan featuring keynotes, panel discussions, and skills shops for young people of all colors and ages. The expo will introduce the youth in Pakistan to the trends in digital economy and specifically to online work, freelancing and startups. And since this all starts in Peshawar, we are calling it The Peshawari Revolution! Wait! There’s more to it.

DYS Banner

Who is behind all this?

Peshawar2.0 is partnering with KP IT Board and World Bank for Digital Youth Summit to address Pakistan’s biggest challenge of youth unemployment and economic growth in general. Peshawar2.0 is knitting a community of like minded people for developing an ecosystem of entrepreneurship. It is our dream to reshape our city as a hub of technology, design and art. Previously, we organized international conferences and workshops including TEDxPeshawar, StartupWeekend Peshawar, lots of others during the Global Entrepreneurship Week and the Peshawar Civic Hackathon.

Why should I care about digital economy?
From selfies to Google Glass and from $19billion acquisition of Whatsapp by Facebook to 3D Printing, we are living in an age of digital economy and breathing technology day in and day out. Pakistan is a country with a bulging young population which needs massive awareness of the trends of this new way of thinking and working. There couldn’t be a better time than today for young people of Pakistan to ship cool and amazing products and services. This is your time! Make yourself and your country proud for developing the next groundbreaking solution to challenges in sectors of business, health, education, technology, and arts. Mind you, this economy is not just about technology people, as technology is for everyone. It is a massive resource that we as Pakistanis need to exploit for changing our world and communities in a our little way.

Why should I attend DYS?
During 2 days, an exciting galaxy of speakers and panelists will inspire you on themes of innovation, freelancing and startups. Some of our confirmed speakers represent global organizations and initiatives including Elance, Acumen Fund, Google Business Group, GEW Pakistan, and World Bank.

To give you a taste of what to expect, think of 2 days of action filled sessions on design thinking, civic hacking, freelancing 101, proposal writing, coding for everyone, entrepreneurship education, social media, lean startups, iOS and Android Development and much more. There’s something for everyone in DYS.

How can I attend the Expo?
The Tech Expo will run for two full days with different organizations participating with their teams, ready to speak to you! These include online work platforms, startups and small & medium companies from the IT services sector. The Expo is a free event, requires no prior registration and will be open to the general public.

Policy Roundtable
There will also be a serious brainstorm at the Policy Roundtable which will be a structured discussion of leading figures in the technology sector, university executives and lawmakers with in government to come together and think out loud on how they can promote the digital economy in the region.

Why all of this is happening in Peshawar?
Peshawar is a city of creators and thinkers, birthplace of the likes of Ismail Gulgee, Jansher Khan, Patras Bokhari and Prithviraj Kapoor. This is the oldest living city in Asia and is home to some of the oldest scientific manuscripts. In our times, we have some making it big in Silicon Valley and we also have one from the region who made it to space! These are people who reshaped the fields of arts, sports, education at a global level. There’s so much more you would want to explore yourself when you are here!

Mark you calendars for 21st and 22nd of May 2014
If you think you are someone who has lots of ideas for making impact, you must attend DYS 2014. Let me repeat myself, YOU MUST ATTEND THIS! or you would kick yourself for missing this.

Registrations for conference opens on 10th May. Excited? Share this article with your friends, family, teachers and co-workers. Don’t forget to tweet your queries, ideas and enthusiasm with the hashtag #KPDYS14.

Catch the latest updates at our Facebook page and DYS event page
Let’s hang out on twitter @KPDYS

Bilal Ahmad can be reached at @BilalAAhmad