Pakistan’s Digital Vision has enabled the government to lead the country into the digital future, according to an official from the ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MoITT). He said that the government is seriously pursuing the goals of Digital Vision to upgrade the skills of local populace so as to meet the demands of local industry.

He also said that the multi-pronged approach of the program also allowed for the facilitation of the private sector. Government is committed to providing enabling environment to the new entrepreneurs by enacting helping legislation and effective policy.

He said that the importance of incubation centers in modern entrepreneurial economies is huge and, in that respect, six National Incubation Centres were already working in different cities of the country. Another incubation center was soon to be opened in Hyderabad followed by the eighth one in Faisalabad.   

He further said that the approval of Cloud Policy and cyber security policy from the federal cabinet represented a watershed in the regulation of digital space and infrastructure of the country. He also informed that the personal data security bill has also been developed to a large extent and soon enough it will also be presented in the federal cabinet for approval.

Speaking of digital connectivity, he said that it has been expanded to many more rural and far-off areas of the country in order to ensure universal access. He said that tele-density has already been extended to 195 million people while broadband facility was available to 122 million people of the country.

Speaking on the speed of digital connectivity projects, he said that their speed can be assessed from the number of projects completed between 2007 and 2020. He said that with a total cost of PKR 31 billion, 37 projects had been completed under the Universal Services Fund (USF). As for the future projects, he said that MoITT had already started 28 new projects under USF worth more than PKR 29 billion in 2021-22 for the purpose of connecting underrepresented and far-off areas with the big urban centers so that connectivity leads to economic growth.

He said that the volume of remittances by IT sector professionals, freelancers, and equity investors significantly increased in the country. The simplification of the digital payment system through the initiation of RAAST Id program by the State Bank of Pakistan, facilitated both the general public as well as the IT sector.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk