Groundbreaking Ceremony held for The Jaffer Family of New York Data Science Center

January 03, 2024: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi was delighted to host the Jaffer Family along with the board members of the Jaffer Family Foundation (JFF), United Global Initiative (UGI) and Know Welfare Foundation for the groundbreaking ceremony of its newest addition to the infrastructure at the IBA Main Campus. The event celebrated the burgeoning relationship between JFF and UGI with IBA Karachi by creating a dedicated space for the benefit of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science (SMCS) to foster research and advancement in the field of AI, Data Science and futuristic technologies.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the new space with a welcome note by Malahat Awan, Director, Alumni Affairs, Resource Mobilization & Corporate Affairs, who welcomed the esteemed guests and thanked them for their generosity. Dr. Shakeel Khoja, Professor and Dean, SMCS, engaged the audience by sharing the vision for the space and the impact it would have on IBA, its students and more specifically the Pakistani technology landscape as the center would focus on cutting edge research and house labs that would further student engagement in advancing technologies.

Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director IBA, addressed the audience by thanking their commitment towards the people of Pakistan and supporting initiatives that help uplift our society in meaningful ways. He expressed gratitude for the family's contribution and appreciated the trust entrusted in IBA and its faculty.

Mr. Sadique Jaffer, Vice President, JFF, shared the closing remarks reinforcing the family's commitment towards uplifting the people of Pakistan and their belief in supporting causes in the most impactful ways. He reiterated his belief that the future will belong to those who pursue excellence in their fields and the center aims to provide the students of IBA with the tools and space to hone their craft and for faculty to further their research to help grow the state of the economy and the field of technology.

The event concluded with the unveiling of the plaque dedicating the space for the construction, and a plantation ceremony to plant a tree that will continue to grow at the institute symbolizing the growing relationship between IBA and the Jaffer Family. Senior faculty and staff were also in attendance along with representatives from the JFF, UGI and Know Welfare Foundation.