IT Policy Landscape in Pakistan: Challenges and the Way Forward
Permanent board essential to formulate and update IT policies: IPS Seminar
Building digital trust and improving the reliability of ICT and technology infrastructures through proper policies and frameworks can lay the foundation for meeting pre-defined IT objectives. Besides, an established policy management and review procedure led by a permanent body is required to multiply the efficiency and fill the policy implementation gap.
The ideas emerged during a seminar on ‘IT Policy Landscape in Pakistan: Challenges and the Way Forward’ held at IPS on August 31, 2023. The guest speaker was Humayun Zafar, ICT specialist, while Khalid Rahman, chairman, IPS, and other experts also presented their views at the session moderated by Naufil Shahrukh, GM Operations, IPS.
Talking about the IT policy landscape in Pakistan, Humayun Zafar stated that the biggest concern is that the policies are designed in a way that restricts the sector rather than facilitates them. Most of the time, it is due to the lack of vision, a clear roadmap, and a predefined target goal behind policy formulation. He stressed that policies must be developed to promote an orderly environment conducive to innovation and conflict resolution rather than to create hurdles and impediments.
He lauded the current IT leadership in Pakistan for its vision to meet the annual IT export target of $10 billion. He noted significant digital mistrust among people due to the risks of failure as one of the hurdles impeding the proper execution of IT policy to achieve the goal. Consequently, people are resisting digital transformation. To address this issue, regulatory frameworks and policies aiming at increasing confidence in ICT and technology infrastructures are required, he said.
At this time, it is necessary to embrace and learn about emerging technologies and build capacities accordingly. He mentioned that present policies do not address Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). These areas must be addressed in a proactive and forward-thinking manner. Furthermore, IT policy must also address concerns such as digital fraud and information security.
Because IT is such a vibrant, ever-evolving, and dynamic industry, he proposed establishing a permanent body committed to analyzing policy results and reviewing policies on a broader scale, at least biannually.
Khalid Rahman said that governance deficit and political instability are major contributors to this digital gap. He endorsed that a dynamic structure or mechanism devoted to performing biannual interim reviews is required for effective policy evaluations. In addition, he stated that this evaluation or assessment should be consistent with other policies and sectors to maximize outputs.
Furthermore, it is critical to prioritize resources and emphasize e-governance to increase public awareness for a multiplier impact. Many problems can be solved by e-governance, but in the long run, questions of will, capacity, and interests must be addressed, he added.
Dr Fakhr-ul-Islam stressed that instead of comparing the progress of Pakistan with other countries and feeling distressed, we need to adopt a learning approach. There is tremendous potential in the IT sector of the country; it just needs to be tailored with the right policy to confront the barriers associated with the IT industry.
