KARACHI, Oct 24 (DNA): The US Consulate General, Karachi, in partnership
with The Asia Foundation and the National Incubation Center (NIC),
Karachi, hosted Built by Her, a two-day virtual hackathon for female
programmers.

Women participated in the virtual hackathon from cities across Pakistan
and represented academia, private and public sectors, and provincial
governments.

Amy Christianson, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General,
Karachi, Sofia Shakil, Country Representative at The Asia Foundation,
and Syed Azfar Hussain, Program Manager at the National Incubation
Center, Karachi, virtually welcomed the participants at the program’s
launch event and reiterated the importance of encouraging women to
participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
fields and the country’s ever-growing startup ecosystem to help unlock
Pakistan’s economic potential.

The National Incubation Center, Karachi, in coordination with The Asia
Foundation’s team, will review each team’s submission after the
hackathon and will identify the top twenty teams to receive mentorship
as part of the NIC Cohort.

A concluding event will be held on November 05, 2020, during which the
20 shortlisted teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges. The
two teams with the best solutions will each receive $5000 of seed money
to further develop their winning ideas.
The purpose of Built by Her is to identify innovative solutions to
post-COVID-19 challenges on the themes of increasing women’s economic
and political participation, developing technological advancements,
improving access to education, strengthening local governance, and
increasing environmental resilience and sustainability.

The Built by Her hackathon program is empowering Pakistani women and
girls around the country to build sustainable solutions to further
Pakistan’s development and future. DNA

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