Plans to digitally transform Sindh on the cards

The move will create a paperless environment across government offices

The Sindh Information Science and Technology Department is close to finalising a draft for the Sindh Digital Transformation Authority, a much-needed body that would digitalise all governmental processes in the province as per the needs of the digital age.

An advisory committee, headed by the Sindh Minister for Information Science and Technology Muhammad Taimur Talpur, is scheduled to meet on August 10 to review the draft. After the meeting, the draft will be presented before the Sindh Cabinet for approval. Later, it will be tabled at the forthcoming Sindh Assembly session to formally pass it as a law.

Earlier a proposed draft was presented before the Sindh Cabinet for feedback. According to Talpur, cabinet members, including the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, shared pragmatic and forward-looking suggestions to further solidify the role of the proposed authority.

Talking to The Express Tribune, he said the committee, which comprises cabinet members and senior statesmen, will assess the draft act and furnish their views before finalising it.

“The Sindh Cabinet has pointed out that the act should be an all-inclusive document so that it could help enable the proposed authority to capture, manage, share and analyse data, and rectify issues of a common person. It will also harness the socio-economic activity in the province,” he said.

Talpur further said that much of the provincial government’s energies were served in setting up ad-hoc data extraction mechanisms and using raw data for real-time decision making. However, with the establishment of the Sindh Digital Transformation Authority, the government will have the opportunity to learn a lot while digitalising processes.

“The department will value these experiences and try to make the most out of it during the review process of the act,” he added. “We should devise a comprehensive strategy for digitally transforming Sindh into a knowledge-based economy.”

According to Talpur, the department’s motto should be to create a one-window solution for the government, businesses, and above all the people of Sindh, where the government becomes a true enabler of the digital ecosystem by integrating user journeys, providing common operating environments, and establishing an open data policy for common resources.

Responding to a query, the minister said that the Sindh Digital Transformation Authority will ensure that all government data goes online and is available to the public.

“The authority will also work to make all official records available in digital format. We will move towards a paperless environment,” he said, adding that people would experience these changes within six months after the authority starts functioning.

Meanwhile, renowned economist and former civil servant Dr Murtaza Khuhro, who has remained a strong advocate of using technology in government affairs, said that everything should be digital and online for ensuring transparency in governmental affairs.

“People should have access to all data, including the government’s expenditure, contracts and procurements. Disbursements being made to local bodies, including the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and district councils, should also be made public,” Dr Khuhro added.

Supporting Talpur’s pledge of making government work paperless, Khuhro said the digitisation process would improve the working of the government departments.

“I suggest exempting government officers of daily physical presence at offices. They should be able to work around-the-clock through different apps,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2020.