ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )
Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) in collaboration with The Internet Society -Asia Pacific (ISOC-APAC) concluded the three-day INET Islamabad – Pakistan’s premier conference on the Digital Economy and the role Internet plays in the country’s viable development, in a local hotel today. The conference, which ran from November 16-18, featured several ICT experts with national and international speakers to discussed the current climate and the way forward required and steps being taken towards a digital economy in Pakistan with an eye on the ICT agenda required for sustainable development.
During the concluding session, Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Mr. Miftah Ismail said that deliberations through such conferences are helpful in providing foundation for ICT agenda. He said that the focus needs to be on software exports as the economy is progressing now. He said inflation has come down and macro economic stability can be felt.
On this occasion, Chairman PTA Syed Ismail Shah said that this conference was very helpful in highlighting issues related to cyber security, e-government and digital economy. PTA will continue to host such events in future also to have fruitful discussions.
Earlier, Chairperson Higher Education Commission (HEC) Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed opened the second day’s dialogue on the growth of ICT industry in Pakistan with efforts needed to bring more research and development projects to Pakistan.
“International transit prices in Asia are higher compared to North America & Europe”, explained the CEO of LIRNEasia Ms. Helani Galpaya. She emphasized on the role that the operators, civil society organizations and investors need to play in training the individuals involved to build their capacity on a larger scale. Managing Director Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Mr.Asim Shahryar Husain also spoke at the occasion and briefed about the country’s IT industry and PSEB’s contributions to it with around$2.5 billion of revenue a year.
Asia-Pacific’s Director for the Internet Society (ISOC) Mr. Rajnesh Singh, on the issue of scarcity of data available on the e Internet in the national language, unveiled the initiative by the ISOC where three online identity-training modules were launched in Urdu by the Chairman PTA Syed Ismail Shah. The modules provide the user with a better understanding of the implications of their online activities. On the subject of digital economy in Pakistan Mr. Singh explained how the digital economy is integrated in all the sectors that contribute to the industry growth, be it any sector but without sufficient electricity, the benefits of all the e-services available for the consumer will fail.
PTA in collaboration with ISOC-APAC held three days INET Islamabad – Pakistan’s first-ever conference on the Digital Economy and the role the Internet can play in sustainable development. ICT agenda required for sustainable development was also a focus of the conference.