Shaza Fatima wins global ‘Industry Champion of the Year 2026’ award

Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja has received the prestigious global title of “Industry Champion of the Year 2026” at the Fastmode Awards 2026.

According to details, Shaza Fatima was selected for the international honour following competition among more than 500 companies from over 60 countries. The Industry Champion of the Year award is presented annually to only one leader from across the world.

The recognition comes amid reported growth in Pakistan’s information technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector. Under Khawaja’s leadership, the country’s IT and ITeS exports reached a record $4.6 billion during the fiscal year 2025-26.

Pakistan’s IT sector also recorded a trade surplus of $3.9 billion, placing it at the top among all services sectors. Meanwhile, freelance export earnings reached $1.76 billion, with the number of registered and active freelancers exceeding 2.37 million.

In another major development, Pakistan successfully completed the country’s largest-ever 5G and Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) spectrum auction in March 2026, taking the total available spectrum to 750 megahertz.

Pakistan also became the first country in Asia to completely abolish right-of-way charges to accelerate fibre-optic infrastructure expansion.

Google formally established its first office in Pakistan through official registration and launched a local assembly line with an annual production capacity of 600,000 Chromebooks.

Meanwhile, more than 4.5 million young people, including 800,000 women, have received free digital skills training through the DigiSkills programme.

According to the GSMA, Pakistan also achieved a significant reduction in the gender gap in mobile internet usage, bringing it down from 38 per cent to 8 per cent.

The country further improved its international standing, advancing 27 positions in the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) ICT Development Index 2026.

The global recognition for Shaza Fatima has been described as an important milestone for Pakistan’s IT industry and its broader digital transformation efforts.