Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday launched a 'Digital Pakistan' initiative in Islamabad, with the aim of curbing corruption and easing lives of people.
Khan announced the Digital Pakistan initiative will be his government's "utmost priority". “It will unleash the potential of the youth. Pakistan has the second-biggest population of youth and it can be turned into strength through digital work,” Khan was quoted as saying by Geo News.
Khan said the Digital Pakistan drive will improve quality of e-governance, which was necessary to curb corruption. Khan also highlighted the fact that women could also contribute to the sector and get jobs.
The strategic pillars of the initiative are access and connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital skill and literacy, innovation and entrepreneurship. The Digital Pakistan campaign was executed by the Ministry of Information Technology. It has been tasked with digitising all correspondence between government offices in Pakistan.
The Digital Pakistan initiative is being headed by Tania Aidrus, a former executive of Google who worked with the company in Singapore.
According to Geo News, Aidrus has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSc from Brandeis University. She was formerly chief of staff and head of strategic initiatives at Google's Next Billion Users programme.
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Speaking at the inauguration of the Digital Pakistan initiative, Aidrus said her goal was to "put Pakistan on the map as far as technology and innovation were concerned".
Declaring that one of her aims was to improve digital connectivity, Aidrus gave the example of a Pakistan Army soldier posted in Siachen Glacier. "A soldier posted in Siachen gets one opportunity a week to speak to his family members," she said. "I want to ensure that whenever he connects to his family via a videocall, he is able to do so without any issues," Aidrus was quoted as saying by Geo News.
Aidrus also emphasised that the need for digital infrastructure was as important as the need for a road infrastructure in a country.
Similarity to Modi drives
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 'Digital India' campaign in 2015 to boost e-governance and improve delivery of services. Critics of Imran Khan are likely to point to the similarities. Ironically, a key theme of Imran Khan's election campaign in 2018 was 'Naya Pakistan', not too different from Modi's call for a 'New India'!
