While terming the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as the “game changer” for Pakistan’s economy, President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the need to bring a paradigm shift in our ideas and attitudes and improve our intellectual and innovation abilities, accelerate the speed manifold for making fully solid policies which should not be rolled back by the change in government, and put our administrative and political capital for their time bound implementation by shunting out lethargy, status quo and inertia, and find out of the box solutions to the existing and emerging issues and challenges and fully capitalize on opportunities.
He said that with right steps taken we can earn US$ 15 billion per year in the IT sector in two to three years’ time period.
The President expressed these views while addressing the launching ceremony of Web 3.0, at Punjab Information Technology Board, Lahore, today. Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, Minister Finance Punjab, Dr. Arslan Khalid, Special Advisor to Chief Minister on Information Technology, Syed Bilal Haider, Chairman Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), Dr. Sarfraz Khurshid, Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University (ITU), Lahore, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, and media persons attended the event.
Addressing the ceremony, the President said that there was a pressing need for our political, administrative, and intellectual capital to fully focus to bring in Artificial Intelligence powered work processes in public and private sector coupled with adopting a much faster pace than the current level, technologies such as blockchain, cloud computing, internet of things, cyber security and cyber defence, virtual and augmented reality and quantum computing to bring delivery of services and quality of products and services at par with international level.
He said that the world was entering into next level of defense system which was cyber security and cyber defense.
He said that currently Russia Ukraine war had amply demonstrated the power of Cyber security and cyber defense to paralyze the public services delivery and communication and connectivity of the rival’s territory.
He added that unfortunately in a report published on international ranking on August 22 Cyber security Pakistan was not mentioned at all.
He said that in terms of generating new and creative ideas, Pakistan was second to none but the need of the hour was information and data sources. He said the current level of human resource and technology was unable to handle the immense data being generated around the world.
He said around 80 million trained human resource is required only in the cyber field if we are able to train our human resource in this sector alone, we can overcome the unemployment in the country and provide high paying jobs to our youth.
