Punjab gets connected

Digital divide between Punjab and the other provinces is widening by the month & this needs to be recognised federally

Pakistan has been slow to embrace the revolution that is the internet. Although the numbers online are rising steadily and accelerating with the explosion in cheap 3G phone sales, the country still has a long way to go if it is to exploit the potential that the internet offers in a myriad ways. In 2013, it was estimated that there were 30 million individual users of the internet, and half of them connected via their phone; giving an internet penetration of around 16 per cent. There are close to 130 million mobile phone users in the country so the potential for expansion of connectivity is vast. It is perhaps, with this in mind that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on February 26 gave the approval for establishing a free of charge public Wi-Fi facility right across the province. The roll out will be for hospitals, universities and other educational institutions, railways, airports, metro bus routes and general bus stands and other locations. Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore will get the service first, elsewhere to follow on an unspecified timetable.

Alongside this initiative, which in broad terms we welcome, the chief minister approved a proposal to provide tablets to teachers of mathematics and science subjects for classes 6-10, as well as some students who achieve high grades. Again we welcome this but would add a note of caution. Once again the icing is going on the development cake for Punjab, and everywhere else is going to have to play catch-up and there is already a lot of catching up to do. Punjab has already started to digitise all textbooks, and has already digitised all science and mathematics textbooks from grades 6-10, with CDs of textbooks readily available. The digital divide between Punjab and the other provinces is widening by the month and this needs to be recognised federally and remedial action taken. E-commerce is already a vibrant sector and card-less online retail has considerable traction. Widening access to the internet has to be a win-win, but care must be taken not to create as many losers as winners because there lies the trouble.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th,  2015.

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