Code for Pakistan: Civic Innovation Fellowship Programme concludes

Fellows worked with various govt departments, developed apps to improve service delivery

PESHAWAR: For the first time, the K-P IT Board has provided a platform to the youth where they can work to improve the government’s service delivery in the province. The platform has been provided to students who are fellows of the K-P Civic Innovation Fellowship Programme.

The aim of the programme is to bring teams of talented researchers, designers and developers together to build mobile apps, inspire citizen engagement and improve government service delivery. The apps will help resolve challenges faced by the public in various sectors such as health care, crime and disaster management.

The K-P IT Board, Code for Pakistan and the World Bank held a closing ceremony at Peshawar Press Club for the successful conclusion of the six-month-long programme.

Participants demonstrated innovative solutions that can potentially help improve government service delivery.

The teams worked with several government departments, including Provincial Disaster Management Authority, establishment department, Peshawar traffic police and the K-P IT Board.

Building a warning system

During the ceremony, the students presented their projects and talked about their experience working with the government entities.

Projects presented included ‘Flash-Flood-Early-Warning System’ and reporting traffic issues directly under the ‘K-P Traffic Police Book’.

Syed Zafar Ali Shah, the secretary for planning and development and secretary for science and technology and information technology, and acting managing director of the K-P IT Board, awarded certificates to the fellows. Shahram Tarakai, the minister for IT and health, was also present.

Tarakai announced an app challenge will be initiated soon where students from the programme will show their creativity and develop apps of different kinds.

“They will have financial and technical support, and the successful candidates will be provided with a variety of opportunities,” he said.

The health and IT minister added the purpose of this initiative was to engage the youth, and give them a platform where they can use their ideas and serve Pakistan.

“With the help of technology, we can monitor everything that happens in the city,” he said. Tarakai added if the world is connected with K-P, it will see the talent in the province and help build K-P’s economy.

Shah said, “Success of the Civic Innovation Fellowship programme is a testament to our continuous efforts towards youth empowerment.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th,  2016.