18 June 2022

UBL successfully holds Pakistan’s first Datathon

UBL in collaboration with the renowned Habib University launched the ‘UBL Datathon’, the first of its kind initiative in the banking industry. The Datathon used UBL’s market leading digital capabilities, combined with the academic excellence of Habib University to provide a platform to the best and brightest technology enthusiasts of Pakistan. Participants competed to provide technology-based solutions to real life challenges faced by the financial services industry. Several innovative business ideas and solutions driven by Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence were submitted by the participants. These were judged by global thought leaders including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, DBS, Kaggle, Maybank and Commonwealth Bank.

The journey that spanned several months, culminated in an Awards Ceremony where the most innovative and practical ideas were recognized and awarded. Held at the Habib University Campus in Karachi, the UBL Datathon event’s Guest of Honour was Shazad G. Dada, President & CEO of UBL. Other esteemed guests included Sohail Javaad, Executive Director Digital Financial Services Group, State Bank of Pakistan, Wasif A. Rizvi, President, Habib University and other experts from the IT industry. UBL was also represented by Faisal Anwar, CIO UBL and other senior executives of the bank.

The event comprised of a number of informative sessions including ‘Importance of Big Data and its challenges’ from the Executive Director SBP; as well as an address on the vision behind Datathon by the CIO UBL and a panel discussion of industry experts on ‘Data as an Organizational Asset’.

The highlight of the event was the Award Ceremony where the awards were given under two categories i.e. Best Idea from Fintech and Best Idea from University students.