ISLAMABAD (MEDIA)
The government has earmarked Rs 2.3 billion for 37 different developmental projects of information technology (IT), which have a total cost Rs 16.3 billion.
The sources told Daily Times that the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2013-14 envisages starting of some new projects. The emphasis will be on human resource development, IT industry development, e-government, and infrastructure development.
The government plans to initiate National ICT Scholarship Programme. The target for the year is to provide about 400 students with scholarships for 4-year Bachelor’s degree programme in various national universities.
Internship Phase-III Programme envisages grooming fresh graduates to acquire practical skills required by the IT industry by engaging them with software companies.
In PSDP 2013-14, emphasis on improving the IT infrastructure will continue so that more international IT companies are attracted to undertake business in Pakistan alongside the domestic IT companies. In this regard, some of the important projects included in PSDP 2013-14 are:
Establishment of Pakistan Urdu Internet Registry will facilitate in developing websites with domain names in Urdu and thus provide a foundation for availability of websites and web content in the national language thus increasing the Internet users in Pakistan.
Centre of Excellence in Advanced Software Technologies and Open Source will be established to increase the use of open source software technologies within the country.
E-government: E-governance projects will continue to be the centre-piece of information technology initiative. The major e-government projects in 2013-14 include Establishment of Federal Government Data Centre to provide physical infrastructure facility for hosting the applications and data services for the public sector at the federal government level.
Integrated Border Management System (revised) intends to install IBMS System at 35 entry and exit border locations in the country.
National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes (NR3C) – Phase-II plans to establish new forensic facilities at Peshawar and Quetta and disseminate information to make public aware about the cyber crimes and how it can help them.
Telecommunications in Pakistan describes the overall environment for the growing mobile telecommunications, telephone, and Internet markets. It is the world’s third fastest-growing telecommunications market. The country’s telecom infrastructure is improving dramatically with foreign and domestic investments into fixed-line and mobile networks whereas fibre systems are being constructed throughout the country to aid in network growth.
Pakistan’s telecommunications infrastructure includes microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, fibre-optic cable, cellular, and satellite networks.
International links include landing points for the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable systems that provide links to Asia, Middle East and Europe and the three Intelsat satellite earth stations in Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and operational international gateway exchanges in Karachi and Islamabad. These also provide microwave radio relay to neighbouring countries. Presently, IMEWE of PTCL and TWA-1 of Transworld (Private Operator) are also successfully operating in Karachi.
IT has revolutionised the way the organisations both businesses and governments operate. Now IT has become a strategic tool to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisations. In current era the success of the organisations depends heavily on effective use of IT. That is why businesses are always investing in information technology solutions to their business problems and they are using information technology for competitive advantage. The governments are usually not the technology leaders and slow in adopting new technology solutions. The government organizations, which have adopted effective IT solutions for their functions have excelled in their service.
To make the governments effective and efficient it is imperative to adopt appropriate information technology solutions to serve the citizens. Pakistan has a large pool of young and energetic human resources. Information technology industry has a great potential for creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for these educated human resources of Pakistan. In Pakistan, IT is a fast growing industry that has significant potential. Matters relating to the IT industry are overseen and administered by the Ministry of IT.
This industry is regarded as a successful sector of Pakistan in economic terms. The government of Pakistan has given numerous incentives to IT investors in the country in the last decade that resulted in the development of the IT sector. As of 2012, Pakistan has over 20 million Internet users and is ranked as one of the top countries that have registered a high growth rate in Internet penetration and has the 15th largest population of Internet users in the world.
In the fiscal year 2012-2013, the government of Pakistan allocated Rs 4.6 billion for IT projects with emphasis on e-government, IT human resource development, IT industry development and infrastructure development.
Source….Daily Times