Federal Minister for IT, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi briefed about Ministry of IT’s achievements during first 100 days of Government, that include over 70 high impact initiatives, ranging from policy interventions to people development initiatives, in sight with Government’s big agenda of using the lever of technology for the socio economic development of people. He stated, “On broad front of Governance and Structural reforms, Prime Minister’s Taskforce on IT & Telecom, having representation from public and private sector experts, has been notified to boost the sector growth for employment generation. To bring in efficiency and effectiveness as part of digital transformation drive, process of rolling-out the e-Office suite all across the Federal Government is in active stage of implementation. In this regard, detailed recommendations to the Prime Minister’s task force on “Civil structure Reforms and austerity”, have also been furnished. Besides, Central Procurement plan for e-readiness of the entire Federal Ministries/Divisions has been approved by the Federal Cabinet. Alongside, to provide an automated mechanism for receiving feedback and complaints from expatriate Pakistanis “Call Sarzameen” portal for Overseas Pakistanis and online “NGO registration system” has also been launched”. He further stated, “To boost E Commerce and IT exports, multiple initiatives have been taken. That include formulation of way forward for constructive engagement with international payment platforms like PayPal, coupled with collaborative working with SBP and other stakeholders regarding National e-payment Gateway. Recently, launched a private sector Software Technology Park in collaboration with PIES (Pakistan International Education System) for provisioning of 72,000 square feet of IT enabled office space to IT & ITeS companies. The e-Commerce for Artisan project has been approved by USF Co. board in the Public Private Partnership mode aiming to provide online platform to Craft MSMEs from across Pakistan in leather, carpet, furniture, textile, jewelry & pottery. In this regard, 1000 craft MSMEs are to be taken onboard and brought online. In regards to Policy Interventions in Telecom Sector he briefed, “Resolution mechanism for all outstanding matters including payment of outstanding USD 800 Million from Etisalat started after high level agreement with UAE delegation. To curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, Device Identification, Registration & Blocking System (DIRBS), Phase-II will become functional on 1st December 2018. Revision of GoP Policies to enable import of used mobile devices and prevention of smuggling through DIRBS will bring around USD 500 Million /annum smuggled handsets and related trading market into the tax net. Dr Khalid Maqbool urged that Human Development is the top most priority of our Government. He said, “As part of Digiskills program to train freelancers, almost 10,000 trainings were completed with projected annual estimated earnings around $ 40 million a year. To build the digital skills of girls, through ICTs for Girls Project, 70 master trainers have been trained by Facebook and 35 by UN-Women to reach its impact to over 1,10,000 girls throughout Pakistan. To nurture Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and Innovation in ICTs, through NICs in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, over 121 startups have been facilitated at these incubation centers, resulting in creation of over 800 jobs and generation of Rs. 319 million (approx.) as revenue. The Federal Minister further explained, “As part of bridging the Digital Divide, 834 Mauzas (with overall population of around 650,000) were provided coverage to unserved/underserved areas of Awaran, Khuzdar, Kohistan, Kharan, Chitral, North Waziristan and KPK etc. Besides, 1037km of OFC in 20 Tehsil Headquarters (THQs)/Major Towns of Baluchistan and Punjab has been laid. Another remarkable feat achieved in terms of successfully contesting elections for ITU Council seat in Plenipotentiary Conference held in November 2018 in Dubai (UAE) by securing 155 votes out of 177 member states. To help build Green Pakistan, Ministry of IT & Telecom, through National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), has launched “Green Pakistan” initiative. In this regard, 5,000 plants have been planted across the country. ***** ?
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