Board of

Directors

Mr. Zarrar Hasham Khan has been appointed as Secretary Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. Earlier he was working as Group Chief Business Solutions Officer at Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited. Mr. Zarrar has also worked for 11 years in STC-Kuwait (A Saudi Telecom Group Company) as Chief Technology Officer where he was responsible for defining strategy and overseeing its execution for the fixed, mobile and ICT infrastructure. Additionally, in that role, he also spearheaded one of the largest commercial deployments of 5G services in the world in 2019.

In his last 20+ years of experience, Mr. Zarrar has had vast local and international experience in the investment banking domain as well as with leading telecom service providers including Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Mobilink GSM – PMCL (currently known as Jazz Pakistan), etc. He is a seasoned professional with planning and execution experience in Strategy Development, Technology Operations, Governance, Risk & Control, Customer Experience Management and Product Development.

Mr. Hasham Khan has degree in Master of Business Administration from University of Warwick – Warwick Business School and bachelor’s in electrical and Electronics Engineering from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

Mr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Rahim is serving as Member Telecom, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. As Member Telecom at the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication, Mr. Muhammad Jahanzeb aspires to lead and realize meaningful policy interventions for the growth of the Telecom and Digital sector in Pakistan. Previously he was serving as Director General (Telecom Wireless) in the Ministry since 2019. He has been instrumental in multiple ‘sector-first’ initiatives like Local Smartphone Manufacturing in Pakistan, Spectrum Strategy, 4G Auction in AJK & GB, Right of Way Policy and 5G Policy Guidelines & Recommendations.

Mr. Jahanzeb brings 20+ years of interesting professional observations in areas of ICT Policy, Enterprise Solutions, Corporate Governance & Strategy and 4G Programme Management in the development sector and international enterprises.

He is a graduate of NED University of Engineering & Technology in Computer Systems Engineering and holds a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Center of Advanced Studies in Engineering, Islamabad. His research areas include Mobile Broadband Adoption in Pakistan and Contemporary Organisational Issues.

Mr. Jahanzeb believes that focusing on developing character and competence based on sound ideology is key for individuals, organisations and nations for sustainable and inclusive growth. He volunteers for facilitating personal development training and is an American Board of NLP certified coach.

Mr. Saad Fazil Abbasi is serving as Additional Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan. He has served in various government departments and ministries. He has been Joint Secretary in Finance Division External Finance Wing. He has been overseeing Litigation, Regulation and Discipline functions in Establishment and Finance Divisions. In addition to above he has also served as Principal Staff Officer to Chief Minister of NWFP during 1997-99.
Mr. Saad Fazil Abbasi has earned LLM degree in International Economic and Business Law from Kyushu University, Japan. He has attended various courses and training programs both at national and international level. He has extensive experience in the arena of public policy and governance.

Maj Gen Hafeez Ur Rehman (Retired) is a technology professional with experience of over 37 years in national security, ICT development, spectrum management, digital transformation, Cyber Security and policy-making. Gen Hafeez holds BE (Telecom) and MS (War Studies) from National Defense University (NDU) Islamabad.
He has served at key leadership positions dealing with ICTs strategy and transformation. He has vast experience in deployment of state-of-the-art telecom infrastructures, enhancing the redundancy and efficiency of networks, fiberization, RoW management, and data centers design & architecture. He has also served with United Nations (UN) at key appointments in member countries.He is currently serving as Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) since May 2023. In addition to PTA, he is also a board member of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), Universal Service Fund Company (USFco), and IGNITE (National Technology Fund).
In recognition of his outstanding services for the country, Gen Hafeez has been conferred with ‘Hilal-e-Imtiaz Military.

Syed Junaid Imam is Member Information Technology, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication since July 2019. He has an academic background in the field of electronics and signal processing with over 23 years of broad based experience in the field of IT and Telecom. He has done some pioneering work in Pakistan in the field of embedded system development and optical network design. He has provided product development and innovation management consultancy in Asia and Europe. He is leading the digital transformation agenda of the government of Pakistan and is engaged in building the national innovation ecosystem. He has also been the head of Pakistan Software Export Board. He is serving as an ex-officio Director on the Board of Ignite since July 19, 2019. His role has been quite instrumental in policy decisions of the Company.

Dr. Shahid Farooq Alvi is CEO and Director of Brain Telecommunication Limited, one of the initial companies in Pakistan to introduce  email, fax and broadband internet services in Pakistan. He is a veteran and an IT expert with more than 40 years of experience in this industry. He also had the honor of introducing the first Fiber optic network connectivity in Lahore, Pakistan way back in 1999.
Dr. Shahid is currently the President of PTAPA (Pakistan Telecommunication Access Providers Association) and is leading the telecom industry in resolving their day to day challenges and issues being faced by the fixed line providers with different government bodies and authorities. He has served as the President of Computer Association of Hafeez  Center from 1985 to 1995 as well. He took the initiative of creating Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan and has served as its President from 1996 to 2013. Currently he is serving as President of PTAPA since 2013. He has vast experience of working with the Federal and Provincial Government Bodies and has also been working hands in hands with Ministry of IT and Telecom. He has made a significant contribution in policy making matters relating to the Telecom Policy 2015 drafted by PTA and MoITT.
A founding member of PTAPA and a strong activist for reforms in the IT and Telecom sector to help and grow the IT industry of Pakistan, Dr. Shahid holds a professional MBBS Degree from King Edward Medical University, Pakistan after which he diversified in 1983 and pursued a career in the field of IT and Telecom.

Mr. Adnan Asdar Ali is CEO & Co-Founder at Multinet Pakistan (Private) Limited. His guidance and experience has resulted in developing Multinet as a tthriving brand in Telecom industry of Pakistan. He has a rich and progressively diverse experience of over 35 years in structural and forensic engineering, construction management, quality control and project management. Mr. Adnan has conducted a series of seminars on Entrepreneurship and Marketing at the Institute of Business Administration as well as Project Management and Leadership seminars at NED University in Karachi. He also plays advisory roles in several non – profit organizations primarily focused on Education and Health and is on the Executive Council /Board for the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, The Citizens Foundation, The Hunar Foundation and Indus Hospital.
He is also on the board of Karachi Relief Trust as Director. In addition to that he is also Proprietor /Partner at AAA Partnership Pvt Limited, he founded in 1987 that oversees the project management, portfolio of organizations for the disciplines of structural and forensic  engineering, and construction management etc. He has a degree in Science (Civil Engineering) from Wisconsin, USA and a Masters in Science (Civil Engineering) from Minnesota, USA.

Engr. Prof. Dr. Bilal Ahmad Alvi is the Vice-Chancellor at Nazeer Hussain University, Karachi, Pakistan. He holds an MS and Ph.D. in Optical Fiber Communication from the University of Salford, UK, and a B.E. in Electronic Engineering from Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, NED University Karachi. With over 40 years of experience in electronic engineering, small satellite development, and optical communication, Dr. Bilal has made significant contributions to both R&D and corporate sectors. He has held positions as Dean/Chairman of Electrical, Electronic & Telecommunication Engineering departments at various universities, including his role as Director of HIET at Hamdard University, Islamabad.
Dr. Bilal has been instrumental in establishing Engineering-based programs at multiple institutions and has been involved in notable projects in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. He played a key role in Pakistan’s space endeavors, notably as a Senior Engineer at the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), contributing to projects like the BADR-2 satellite launch. He also collaborated with Hughes Aircraft USA on the feasibility of the PAKSAT communication satellite. Dr. Alvi is an esteemed member of several statutory bodies within Pakistan’s academic landscape.
His academic achievements include a substantial number of published research papers and leadership in local and international conferences. Dr. Alvi’s dedication to education has been acknowledged by the Higher Education Commission Pakistan, which honored him as the best University Teacher.

Prof. Dr Rabia Enam is the founding Director of Office of Research, Innovation & Commercialization (ORIC) at Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) since January 2016. Under her directorship she has also established and running Sir Syed Technology Incubation Centre (STIC) at SSUET. Dr. Rabia is also the program director of the president initiated program National Idea Bank (NIB). Through NIB platform Dr Rabia has played a key role in establishing and leading consortium of academia and industry, that will help in providing a conducive platform for the young entrepreneurs from all over Pakistan.

Prof. Dr. Rabia Enam serving also as a professor in the department of computer engineering at SSUET, holds 2 Bachelors, 2 Masters and one PhD degrees in Applied Mathematics and Computer Engineering from Karachi, NED and Sir Syed Universities.

Her research interests are in the area of communication protocols and techniques in IoT and Wireless Sensor based networks.  She has published more than 30 articles/papers which includes several JCR indexed impact factor journals and international conferences. She has won Governor Award to be the first lady MCSE in Pakistan in 1998.

Dr Rabia has also served as the Editor of Sir Syed University Research Journal of Engineering & Technology (SSURJET), from 2018 to 2021. Under her editorship the journal was upgraded to HEC approved Y Category Journal.

Salaal Hasan is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist currently serving as a Co-founder & Managing Partner of Infiniti VC B.V and as a Board Member for Pakistan’s largest HR enterprise cloud, Decibel.
In 2022, Hasan was appointed as the youngest member of the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Task Force on Foreign Direct Investment and Advisory
Council for IT & Telecom. Prior to launching Infiniti VC, Salaal served as Director, Venture Capital at the JS Group and as the Head of VC, Ecosystem Development and Start-up Banking at JS Bank Limited. He lead multiple investment rounds and served on the Boards of leading Pakistani start-ups in Ailaaj, Knowledge Platform, Brandverse, Chikoo and kuickpay.
Hasan served as a Member of the Board of Director’s at JS Global Capital Limited and Chairman of the IT & Digitisation committee, when JS Global delivered Pakistan’s first technology IPO of Airlink Communications Private Limited (largest private sector IPO to date).
He earned his B.Eng. (Honours) in Chemical Engineering and Business Management from the University of Birmingham where he was awarded anexcellence scholarship. He was schooled at Stowe School and Aitchison College where he received academic colors. Hasan is passionate about technology diplomacy as a way of democratizing access to information and services for his nation.