Islamabad, April 19, 2010: MobileMonday (MoMo), the global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and companies, launched its 100th chapter in Islamabad today at a glittering event attended by key players of the telecommunication industry, government officials, diplomats, dignitaries, media and others. Representatives of the global MoMo community who had especially flown into Pakistan for the launch were also present.
The remarkable MobileMonday phenomenon began almost by accident in Helsinki, Finland in the autumn of 2000. A couple of well-known Finnish visionaries invited the who’s who of the Finnish mobile industry to an informal get-together and incidentally the time that suited everybody was Monday evening. After this first meeting the group decided to continue meeting on the first Monday of each month — and thus, MobileMonday was born. Towards the end of 2004, the movement started to spread to other areas of the world and new MoMo chapters were started in Tokyo, the Silicon Valley in USA and Rome and Milan in Italy. Since then, the number of MobileMonday chapters and members has dramatically increased making MobileMonday the world’s leading mobile community.
MoMo today is a hub of influential stakeholders of the ICT industry, fostering cooperation and cross-border business development through virtual and live networking events to share ideas, best practices and trends from global markets. It also facilitates the creation of peer networking and partnerships locally and globally by providing a platform for industry players. MoMo also contributes to generating awareness amongst the broader public through various means.
Pakistan has now come into the global limelight with the launch of MoMo’s 100th Chapter in Islamabad, which began with an address by H.E. Osmo Lipponen, Ambassador of Finland to Pakistan. This was followed by speeches by H.E. Shahid Kamal, Ambassador of Pakistan to Germany, Jari Tammisto, the Founder and CEO of MoMo Global and other speakers.
"Pakistan is a huge mobile market where there is much innovation the world should be aware of. MobileMonday is excited to invite Pakistan’s mobile community to connect with peers globally,” said Tammisto and added “After several successful launches in other countries, including the most recent ones in Uganda and Kenya, MoMo’s global team is excited by this milestone – the Islamabad launch is very special as it is the 100th.”
In Pakistan, the COMSATS Institute of Technology (CIIT) is the local counterpart for the Mobile Monday network. The CIIT with 7 campuses countrywide, 42 degree programs, 17,000 students’ enrollment, 11,000 graduates and 1700 faculty members of its own is the fastest growing institution. It is currently ranked at seven by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
CIIT Rector, Dr S. M. Junaid Zaidi (S.I.) said that Pakistan has immense potential to benefit from the global networking and peer support offered by MoMo.
Some of the activities that MoMo Chapters initiate are workshops, seminars, information hubs and a website with the latest mobile technology information in one place. Just like mobiles and internet services the important thing is not the device but the opportunity created by its existence. Similarly, the MoMo community creates tremendous opportunities for the ICT industry and the general public.
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