Digital transformation of Pakistan

Digitization and technology hold the promise of progress and prosperity for almost every country including Pakistan. Information Technology has become a fundamental part of industry and manufacturing.
The technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, robotics, automation, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, mobility, and others continue to have a growing effect on society, economy, and environment.
Moreover, the process of rapid digitization has transformed almost everything on the face of the earth from physical to software-controlled – economy to education, healthcare to market-customer relations, and government-citizen interaction to banking.
The incumbent government has taken the initiative to upgrade digital banking infrastructure and ease the conditions and exhausting paperwork for digital services such as e-payments, online transactions and the issuance of credit cards, and their use in online stores or in-store shopping, at petrol pumps, online utility bill payments, and university fee payment gateways, etc.
The process of digitization can help grow the economy more quickly, fuel innovations, as well as the business environment. This in return could alleviate poverty by creating new jobs for the fresh graduates and young entrepreneurs of the country.
The Digital Pakistan Initiative has created hope that the government is making serious efforts to promote digital technology in the country. However, Pakistan needs to organize and enhance the skills, expertise, and knowledge for digital transformation in all walks of life.
The digital landscape has grown tremendously in Pakistan with a population of over 200 million people.
The country has over 165 million mobile subscribers, 70 million active internet users, and 60 million smartphone users.
According to statistical data of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s telecom indicators, the number of mobile phone users in Pakistan has crossed 165 million while the provision of 4G/LTE services in remote areas of Pakistan has also made a significant increase in overall 3G/4G subscribers, as the number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan crossed 70 million.
With an increase of 0.173 million users in just a month, it has become evident that 4G users in Pakistan are increasing at a rapid pace and will soon take over the 3G market after the launch of 5G services. In an increasingly digital world, connecting people to the world can open up new vistas and bridge the gap of inequality both on social and economic fronts.
As internet penetration has gone up to 70 percent in the country, several case studies emerge that people successfully achieve their ambitions and turn their dreams into a reality.
Similarly, the digital medium is considered cost-effective with a wider reach which comes with many benefits — people around the globe get easy access to information anytime and anywhere through multiple digital devices.
Likewise, the digital means of marketing and communication are also considered quicker, result driven, and adaptable. Deputy Coordinator, E-Governance, Performance Management & Reforms Unit (PMRU), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr. Akif Khan said that Pakistan’s first initiative was the launch of Pakistan Citizen Portal where citizens can make access to eight thousand officials. “As far as the digital transformation of Pakistan is concerned; it is one of the biggest case studies with a 94% resolution rate of the cases,” he added. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ‘App Desk,’ Muhammad Tanveer Khan said that digitization makes public service delivery more efficient and speedy by ensuring ‘one window operations’ of different official tasks — taking less time and effort. It also decreases the chances of deliberate/un-deliberate human errors and the online record could be easily authenticated from any part of the world, he added.
Majid Khan, an Islamabad based IT expert said that due to the pandemic, a spike was witnessed in the sale and purchase of smartphones and laptops for online teaching and learning in the country. He said that people in general and students, in particular, had learned a great deal about new software and productive use of android phones and computer technology.
During the coronavirus, when people were confined to their homes, the internet has given relief to continue working from home by connecting them online with a large number of people across the globe