Pakistan need to strengthen their digital footprint for progress and development
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani society is going through a transformational phase. All sectors of society are ready for uplift towards digitisation. The fields of health, justice, education, jobs, empowerment and infrastructure can all be drastically improved through digital initiatives.
Digital ecosystems are the backbone for delivering these ambitions. The development of IT parks, incubation centres and open access to services could turn out to be a baseline for growth and progress.
E-Governance, E-Health, E-Justice are some of the major field areas where our digital front can focus on. Moving on from the manual and usual ways and ensuring digital system can be a greater opportunity for entrepreneurs and software houses. E-Agriculture portals, consolidating and disseminating information regarding agriculture prices, methods and forecasts, could be established to penetrate the agricultural domain.
Energy crisis has been one of the major issues for Pakistan for almost a decade. The digital front can help the government in the form of smart metering systems and grids. Consumption analysis and efficient production solutions could be proposed.
Women’s empowerment and access to education for them can also be handled under the digital umbrella. Digital knowledge opportunities can bridge the gap and make them an effective and vibrant member of digital society. People with disabilities can also be addressed through the digital front.
The opportunities are unlimited for Pakistan to move towards a digital society, for businesses to enhance their footprint in digital world. But the question remains: Are we making the necessary inroads towards a digital society?
Shumail Ibrar Javed
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2017.
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