INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Information Technology has brought about a revolution in economic growth of most developed and emerging economies through its strong restructuring impact on economic activities and processes. IT is influencing every aspect of human life be it trade, services, manufacturing, government, education, research, entertainment, culture, defense, communications etc. It has been the greatest change agent of the present time and is expected to play this role even more dramatically in the coming decades. It has also become the determinant of the progress of nations, communities and individuals.. From the IT revolution, a new kind of economy namely K-Economy has emerged in which knowledge, creativity and innovation play an ever-increasing and important role in generating and sustaining growth. In this economy, knowledge is the most critical factor of production and generates more wealth than other traditional factors of production, land, labour and capital. The Medium Term Development Framework of the Government of places emphasis on transforming the existing economy to a K-based economy in least possible time and this is also substantiated by the data from the Global Information Technology Report for - published by the World Economic Forum. GOVERNMENT PRIORITIZATION OF ICT Singapore Japan Maritius Denmark Taiwan Egypt Korea Hongkok United States Malaysia Sweden Countries Review of - Financial. During -, an allocation of Rs.,. million was made for the development of Information Technology Sector. The major allocations were for the projects of Ministry of IT and Ministry of Interior. Utilization was 98% of the allocated funds.

2 Physical. The main programmes and achievements are summarized below: E-Governance Program. The Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) of MoIT and M/o Interior are leading the efforts in E-Governance for the Government of. Following are the major achievements regarding various E-Governance initiatives:- Urdu Lexicon has been developed which will increase the use of Internet by the common citizen s manifolds. This will extend the benefits of IT Technology to the rural population in Urdu language. The present status of usage of internet in vis-à-vis other countries is as follows: INTERNET ACCESS IN SCHOOLS Korea Hongkong Switzerland USA Malaysia Turkey Sri Lanka Ukrain Bangladesh Anglola Country Automation of National Assembly and Senate is nearing completion. This will improve the efficiency of the Government by integrating the core functions on an electronic platform. Provisioning of Hardware and Licensed Software in divisions of Federal Government was completed. Deployment of Network and Fiber equipment in 8 divisions was also completed.

3 Fiber Deployment for connectivity of major entities of Federal Government with NTC was initiated Internet Services were provided to Divisions of the Federal Government. The facility of Machine Readable Passports has been provided to 8 Regional Passport Centres and foreign missions. The project is being implemented by the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports. A Police Record and Office Management System is being designed to improve the functioning of Police all over by the introduction of IT. The project is being implemented by the Police Bureau. A project for Personal Identification Secure Combat and Evaluation System is being implemented by FIA to computerize the record of people entering and leaving through land, sea and air routes. A project for automated finger print identification system is being implemented with the assistance of US Government to combat terrorism and crimes by capturing fingerprints of all criminals captured by the police through digitization in a database. A project for the establishment of a motor vehicle registration system in the Islamabad Capital is being implemented by the Chief Commissioner Office in Islamabad. Human Resource Development.8 The Computer Bureau is working with the Ministry of Education and Provincial Education Departments not only for improving the quality of education but also for the provision of I.T. training to the Federal and Provincial Government Employees. A comparison of the quality of education and the availability of internet access in schools with other countries is as follows. QUALITY OF EDUCATION SYSTEM INTERNET ACCESS IN SCHOOLS Finland Singapore Australia United States Indon esia Italy Country China Turkey Ang ola G uatemala Korea Hongkong Switzerland USA Malaysia Turkey Country Sri Lanka Ukrain Bangladesh Anglola

4 Source: Global Information Tech Report- -.9 Computer Bureau is implementing a mega project for the provision of IT Teachers and establishment of Computer Labs in % Government Secondary and Higher Secondary schools all over apart from other projects for HR development. The achievements of PCB are as under:- Implementation of a mega project in collaboration with Provinces that would result in establishment of IT labs and provision of IT teachers in, secondary schools throughout the country is under speedy implementation. So far, 8 computer labs have been established in various schools (and another 9 are at completion stages) and IT Teachers and Lab Incharges have been appointed in these schools. Establishment of IT Labs and recruitment of I.T. Lecturers/I.T. Teachers, I.T. Lab administrators and Lab attendants in 8 F.G/Model Colleges and Schools in ICT, Islamabad was completed. Training was given to, officers/officials of Federal Government in computer applications. Over, persons both from public as well as private sector were trained in Linux Operating System & Open Office Tools and training to over persons from public as well as private sector has been provided in Linux Systems Administration and Networking operations. Over students of National College of Arts Lahore were trained in Graphics, Multimedia and Animation. Training to the remaining students is in progress. IT Industry Development Program. The Software Export Board is mainly responsible for the development and promotion of local IT Industry. PSEB has achieved following milestones under various development projects:- Certification of software companies on ISO 9 standard was completed. IT and IT enabled services companies were certified at various levels of CMMi. interns were placed in the current financial year with various IT and IT enabled services companies. The total number of interns placed has reached.

5 Land for establishment of Software Technology Park in Islamabad was acquired from CDA. Programme for - Financial. In the Public Sector Development Programme -, an amount of Rs.,. million has been earmarked for the development of Information Technology Sector. Substantial funds are allocated for the implementation of E- Governance, development of IT Industry and Human Resource. It is anticipated that such significant investment will spur research & development and expand employment opportunities. Physical. It is estimated that IT projects will be implemented by various Ministries and Divisions in the financial year -. The basic emphasis will be on the following areas as described in MTDF -: E-Governance Programme. Major thrust will remain on e-governance as nearly % of the total IT projects are for e-governance. Important new initiatives include:- Automation of District Courts and Case Management System in Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan and AJK Land Revenue Records Management System in Rural Areas of ICT Automation of TCP Federal Government E-Procurement System E-Office Replication at Divisions of the Federal Government Federal Government E-Procurement System Computerization of Police Stations Human Resource Development. Computer Bureau will continue work for the development of IT skills through various HR development projects. It is envisaged that: A follow up project for the establishment of IT Lab and hiring of IT teachers/lab administrators in, schools will be approved.

6 IT training of, employees of the Federal, Provincial and AJK government shall be provided. Under the project titled Capacity building of local IT industry, approximately individuals will be trained in the areas such as networks, system security, software architecture and management. The trainings will be held in major cities of. IT Industry Development Program. The Ministry of IT in collaboration with the software industry will continue to create projects with a mix of conventional as well as aggressive approach to support our IT industry. Projects like internships, standardization of i Software Industry, participation in local and foreign IT exhibitions would be continued. The E- Governance program of the Government will create a large demand for application and services. It is expected that Local IT Industry will benefit the most. Other important targets include:- Setting up of new IT parks in Islamabad and Lahore. Establishment of Venture capital fund for IT and IT enabled services sector. Certification of IT companies on CMMi level. Training of professionals from the IT companies in project management, network security and software industry standards. Placement of interns with IT and IT enabled services companies.