ISLAMABAD ( BMZ REPORT )
Given the growing trends of Information Technology, it has become imperative to reformulate the National IT policy to take into account the transformative fundamentals of technology and its eco-system centered on digitization. With this in mind, Ministry of IT & Telecom (MoITT) endeavored to draft this policy document in-consultation with relevant stakeholders.
Initial draft was prepared with the support and coordination of IT Industry, PASHA, Academia, Civil Society, relevant government departments in 2015. The draft document was further deliberated in multiple focused group sessions with researchers from prime academic institutions, high ranking IT experts, civil society, experienced government decision makers, digital & Internet service providers as well as other associated stakeholders. In continuation of its efforts of inclusivity & outreach to all relevant stakeholders, MoIT is conducting a final “Stakeholders’ consultation” event to review the draft national IT Policy to be held on 27th October, 2016 in Islamabad. In preparation of this event, Ministry formulated multi-stakeholder based working groups in August, 2016 and the draft policy was shared with the nominated members of the working groups for their valuable feedback at that time.
The objective of the event is to finalize the National IT policy to create a holistic digital ecosystem. The working groups will focus on key topics such as promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, infrastructure development, increase in IT exports, legislative measures to safeguard software industry, enabling e-Commerce environment, gender empowerment & of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) for IT accessibility. The draft policy document is also available on the MoIT’s official website (www.moit.gov.pk) for public consultation, comments and feedback.