Ali Dar, Advisor to the Chief Minister on Artificial Intelligence and Special Initiatives, paid a visit to the National Incubation Center for Aerospace Technologies, better known as NICAT, situated within the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park in Rawalpindi. The visit brought together some of Pakistan’s most promising young entrepreneurs, who used the occasion to present their startups directly to a senior government figure with a mandate over the country’s artificial intelligence agenda.
NICAT, funded by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom through Ignite — National Technology Fund and implemented by a NETSOL-led consortium comprising NASTP, Air University, and PAC Kamra, has emerged as one of the more consequential incubation platforms in Pakistan’s technology landscape. Since its inception in 2022, the incubator has brought 77 startups under its fold, facilitated over PKR 1.2 billion in investments, generated more than PKR 3.1 billion in revenues, and contributed to the creation of over 20,000 jobs. The visit by Dar signals a growing recognition at the policy level of what incubation platforms like NICAT represent for the country’s broader technology ambitions.
During the visit, startup founders took the opportunity to not only showcase what they have built but also to seek Dar’s perspective on where government support, policy direction, and institutional backing can make a tangible difference for ventures operating in artificial intelligence and deep tech. NICAT sits within NASTP Alpha, which hosts the largest research and development ecosystem of the Pakistan Air Force, spanning domains including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, space, and software development. That institutional depth gives the incubator an unusual character — one that blends defense-sector infrastructure with civilian startup ambition, a combination that is increasingly relevant as AI applications move into critical sectors.
The engagement is consistent with a pattern of government officials being drawn into direct dialogue with the startup community, particularly as Punjab works to define its artificial intelligence policy posture. For founders at NICAT, the session was less a ceremonial visit and more a working conversation — one where they laid out their challenges and asked pointed questions about how the province intends to support early-stage ventures building in genuinely hard technical domains.
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