Performance in ICT

It is hardly surprising that a country which has banned YouTube for over 200 days will have a low ranking when it comes to anything technology related. Had information and communication technologies (ICT) been the priority it should have for the government, it would not think of taking counter-productive measures like banning websites or attempting to set up a firewall along the lines of China. As it happens, Pakistan is ranked very low in the world of ICT, coming in at 105^th position out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Information Technology Report for this year. Simply put, this ranking shows that Pakistan is not keen on developing the ICT sector by improving broadband technology in the country or subsidising its use. There is no guiding vision when it comes to the world of information technology in the country, unlike our Indian neighbours, whose IT boom was decades in the making, thanks to government foresight.

As an example, consider that Pakistan still does not have a 3G network at a time when the developed world has moved long past third-generation technology. Bidding was supposed to take place for 3G licences and contracts handed out last year in an auction but this was stopped for unexplained reasons. Some thought it was because the government had no international consultant to guide it through the process but this hardly explains such a long delay.

Although not technically part of the criterion for the rankings, the lack of internet freedom in this country is symbolic of how we are falling behind. When websites can be blocked seemingly at whim, you know that the government has very little interest in exploring the potential of the internet in educating the citizenry. What the government needs to do is craft legislation which would protect our right to use the internet without unreasonable interference from the government or courts. This means unblocking YouTube, Rolling Stone and other such websites. Without freedom there can be no development.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2013.