Could Silicon Valley be

‘Made in Pakistan’
Palo Alto’ a rustic California county, then automotive manufacturing ‘Port Qasim’, agri-
commonly known as the valley of Heart’s Delight textile ‘Faisalabad’, education ‘Lahore’, sports
for its apricots and apples, was transformed by and surgical ‘Sialkot’, small engineering
a pipe dream of single visionary “Leland ‘Gujranwala’, heavy industries ‘ Wah’, even light
Stanford” into the birth place of cutting edge weapons manufacturing ‘Landikotal’. These are
technologies. Silicon valley ‘as known now’ the scattered strengths of this country’ each
makes up the 8th largest economy in the world brewing with enormous potential to reverberate
having headquarters of some of the most on international scale and this is where the
valuable companies on earth, from Apple, focus should lie. These places have already
Microsoft, HP, Intel and the list goes on. It has brewed the desired skill sets, resources and
been the benchmark for developed and environment to foster respective strengths, with
developing countries when it comes to cluster active chambers each having a say in national
development for IT, manufacturing and creation policy making. Next step is the relationship
of new ideas. And its success has spread the between industry and university/research for
seeds of nearly two dozen valleys across the knowledge spill overs, value addition and start-
globe from Cambridge to Bangalore. Physics of ups. A single resourceful and vibrant university is
cluster development has become the new enough to trigger the whole transmutation
science and it is gaining pivotal roles in process in its larger locality, the mere existence
economic policy-making. Though a fascinating
venture and high return investment for any
country, mere seeding of clusters and their
subsequent germination remains a mystique
process that requires delicate balance of
essential ingredients, blended in natural local
recipes, under the right environment by an
enterprising cook. Almost all the successful
known-clusters conceived an organic birth but
calibrated intervention have shown to smoothen
and accelerate their evolution.
Then the million dollar question arise: could a
country like Pakistan having strategic location,
abundant human and natural resources and
sizable diaspora conceive a ‘home grown’
Silicon Valley? answer might be yes and no,
depending on which side of glass you are
looking at. Ingredients; we might not have the
right set of skilled workforce for high tech
clusters to emulate Bangalore but thats the
point, others recipes don’t work when it comes
to cluster development. Our tech-parks fiasco is
an evident failure of blinded transplants, what
went wrong is different debate but one thing is of Silicon valley is because of the knowledge
for certain’ we just can not create Google by spill overs by students and researchers of
swish of our wish because we never produced Stanford University. Without naming, Pakistan
Larry Page, or we didn’t give him a chance to possess such institutions in business,
illustrate. Thus instead of jumping onto an engineering and applied sciences that if properly
overambitious mode we first need to capitalize stirred and networked could produce a potent
on our existing strengths. If we look closely mix. What’s needed in each of them is visionary
Pakistan has already built pseudo-clusters all like Frederick Terman, who transformed
across its spine from IT, services ‘Karachi’,
Stanford from an unknown county college into EPZs, FTZs, SEZs flourished in this country?
world class center of thinking and excellence. reason being over intrusion by the Government
The one who would Instill in students and its functionaries that either does not allow
corporatist, mercantilist instincts to come up competition to flourish or suffocates it if it
with something radically innovative, a culture of happens to bud somehow. Solution; make
garage experimentation, skills to capitalize conducive, pro-competitive policies and back
networks of their community and alumni. That is out’ only to act as true regulator slash
how Larry Page would be bred with ideas and consistency insurer and let the market do
resourcefulness of will and vision to translate fermentation
into a local Google. This process ‘though takes Conclusion; turn universities into innovator
decades’ could be fast-forward if someone churners, business successfuls as new heroes,
important right there takes the first step, to set clusters into integrated units and government as
the stage, inspire and lead. We have some effective regulator. . and we are all set to grow
brilliant families from Mansha to Dawoods, ‘not silicon as such’ but an indigenous’
having marvelous achievements in the corporate conventionally innovative Sial-Valleys
world but just hesitant or shy to become the role MuhammadShafqat
model, drivers, the Donald Trumps of Pakistan.
An American sophomore dreams of becoming
the next Steve Jobs, why cant a Pakistani
teenager wishes to become the next Dewan?
Mir Shakeel “the local Ted Turner” with his
media powerhouse needs to take a lead, to
spread this fascination and his fellows should
follow him by doing little-but-significant things to
brew this youth do-it-new-now obsession.
Then comes the intriguing question of
environment; yes there are problems and its not
perfect for new businesses but again’ the world
isn’t perfect either. Japan has all the technology
but no natural resources, Australia has immense
natural resources but no manpower, Iran has all
the natural resources and manpower but no
finance ! Here the argument goes like; we are in
the state of war and its not sane to open new
businesses. Take a chapter from post-2000
Israel, when the country churned highest
number of start-ups in its history just when it
was engulfed in a bloody intifida with
Palestinians. Do a quick comparison’ we have
enormous resources in water, minerals and
human, they have none. We have strategic
location and trade linkages with neighbors, they
exist in total isolation. We have larger and more
spread diaspora then theirs and we are not
entangled in any indefinite dispute that puts our
sheer existence at stake as them. Thus Pakistan
is still a blessed and resourceful land, its just
that we’ve developed a national habit of
complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves.
Now even if the Planning Commission comes
up with best home grown recipe, it boils down
to master chef who’s going to cook it and it
hasn’t done well. The problem with Government
lies not in its inactiveness but in its hyper-
trampling over the fertile soil, with its big hooves
and heavy weight. How many well-intentioned