A presentation about Information technology in Pakistan – past, present and the future. Subject: Pakistan Studies. Presentation by Imran Ahmed Hunzai

2. F in a l P r o je c t P r e s e n t a t io n
Subject
Group Members:
•Imran Ahmed
•Pakistan Studies
•Malik Saad Abbas
•Haroon Sohail
Subject Instructor •Haider Salman
•Qasim Ejaz
•Madam Aqeela Asif

4. Introduction by Imran Ahmed
A short History of IT in Pakistan by Malik Saad Abbas
The current situation of IT in Pakistan by Qasim Ejaz & Haider Salman
The Bright Future of IT in Pakistan by Haroon Sohail
Conclusion by Imran Ahmed

5. Information technology (IT) is "the study, design,
development, implementation, support or
management of computer-based information
systems, particularly software applications and
computer hardware". IT deals with the use of
electronic computers and computer software to
convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and
securely retrieve information.
When computer and communications technologies
are combined, the result is information technology,
or "InfoTech". Information technology is a general
term that describes any technology that helps to
produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or
disseminate information.

6. The computers came to Pakistan in mid-60 when
second-generation computer was installed at
Karachi. Presently, there are over 1800
mainframe and minicomputers, about half of
which are in the government sector. The growth
in the number of computers during the last ten
years was over 35%. This has been possible due
the governments liberal import policy and
reduction/removal of duties. It is estimated that
there are roughly 450,000 new computers every
year in Pakistan. While this seems a pitifully the
small numbers, it represents a three-fold increase
compared to 1996-1997.

7. Some of the major uses of IT in Pakistan were:
Good Governance
Defense
High Agricultural Yield
Industrial Energy
Education
Entertainment

8. Missile Technology TV Satellite
JF Thunder Countrywide
Internet Access

9. Currently Pakistan is making steady
progress in the field of Information
Technology. Following are some of
the main aspects that have been
considered by the IT Policy that was
presented in 2002.

10. Produce 50,000 highly qualified IT Graduates annually within 7
years to meet the multibillion dollar Export Target
Impart vocational training to over 100,000 Knowledge workers
for IT enabled services within 2 years
Develop world class Institutions of Higher Learning
Strengthen Faculty and Infrastructure of Existing Universities
Develop a modern countrywide Telecom infrastructure and
make it affordable.
Develop Pakistan into a regional hub for Telecommunication and
Information flow
Launch a Geo Satellite to extend
telecommunication-broadcasting
facilities to remote areas
within Pakistan and the neighboring
countries

11. Make Government Information and forms available to citizens
on-line
Bring significant improvement in services like Bill Payment,
Agency Specific Applications, Complaint Handling, etc.
Eliminate the time spent by the citizens waiting in long queues
Stimulate the Domestic Economy
Create jobs and economic growth in the local economy by
strengthening the IT industry.
Apply IT to the traditional industry to increase its productivity
Create environment to facilitate e-commerce
Facilitate the automation of banks and other sectors to improve
the general business climate
Increase Exports

12. To meet the growing demand of IT professional’s
new IT universities are being established in the
public sector. The buildings are being acquired
through donations or by leasing at low rent. The IT
campuses will be expanded to full-fledged
universities when they acquire their charter.
Establishment of 7 new IT universities and
departments with improved faculty and resources
has been initiated.

13. The objective of setting up the National Testing Service is
to provide an affordable, indigenous service similar to the
Educational Testing Service, USA that offers Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) and Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT). The testing service can be used as entrance criteria
by educational institutions, for the award of scholarship,
an aid to employers in recruitment, or for any other
situation where a widely accepted standard test is
required. The project will be initiated shortly.

14. Considerable progress has been made in the recent past to
implement and enhance Fiber Optic Connectivity in all parts of
Pakistan. During the past 1 year, fiber optic connectivity has been
increased from 114 to 158 cities. It is targeted to reach 300 cities by
the end of the year 2010. Activation of the alternate Fiber optic
backbone from Karachi to Peshawar, providing 622 Mbps
connectivity is targeted for completion by June 2002. This will be in
addition to the existing fiber backbone that is to be upgraded with
Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology thereby
increasing the capacity from 622 Mbps to 10 GBps by January 2003.

15. The bandwidth tariff for the entire portfolio of services provided by
PTCL has decreased under an accelerated re-balancing plan.
Accordingly the Internet tariff has been reduced to 1/16th in the
past 2 years International E1 (2 Mbps) Internet connectivity is now
available at USD 6000 per month as compared to the price of USD
83,000 per month prevailing 2 years ago.

16. The Internet Services Providers (ISPs) became operational in the
country in 1996. By June 30, 2000 the country had 0.1 million
Internet Subscribers and coverage to only 29 cities. Now internet
access spread to over 700 localities throughout the country
including some far flung remote areas and internet usage has
spread many folds.

17. To facilitate e-commerce and other on-line transactions
requiring digital signature and authentication the IT Law
has been drafted and reviewed with the Law Ministry.
This Ordinance when promulgated will open the way for
electronic transactions by providing it a legal cover. The
draft ordinances for these laws and the Intellectual
Property Law are expected to be finalized soon.

18. Strengthening of IT Institutes
Scholarship Schemes
IT Education in Schools and Colleges
Professional Training Programs
Training Higher Level IT Professionals
Computer Education at Primary Level
Free Computer Resource Centers in Rural Areas
Information Technology Parks
Increase in Bandwidth of Internet
Providing IT Companies more resources

19. Although we started in late 80’s, Pakistan has
already become to contribute a respectable
share in the world of Information Technology
worldwide; especially the last decade has
proved very significant in the grooming of IT
industry in our country. The Information
Technology burst has provided Pakistan a dream
for future in which IT can be used to improve
the standards of our people. It can help us
develop our lives better by tapping the common
benefits of the Internet, and it can also aid to
move further than the digital divide to digital
opportunity.

20. Government of Pakistan has been taking deep interest in making
the IT industry of Pakistan a strong one. In this regard, the Federal
Cabinet passed National IT Policy in August 2000, according to
which Government will act as enabler to produce an IT based
future economy. There are a number of important features in this
policy like human resource development, IT infrastructure
development, efficiency and transparency in Government, improve
services to citizens, stimulate the domestic economy and increase
exports, etc. Government of Pakistan is reengineering its old
processes to improve the efficiency. They are employing IT to
improve the speed of communication and keep track of its
performance.

21. The first and foremost need is to develop human resources in the
field of IT. Currently Pakistan has lesser number of people than the
actual required count in order to compete worldwide. We are in
need of producing thousands of high quality IT graduates every
year. Keeping this purpose in mind, many initiatives have been
taken to increase the capacity of existing institutions and to build
the new ones. These universities will impart education related to IT
field. New higher education programs have been set and, for this
purpose, new faculty is induced.

22. On the whole, the future of IT in Pakistan is very bright.
Our IT policy has given Pakistan special courage to
compete in today’s world of IT. It has enabled Pakistan to
stand amongst the top countries with respect to IT and it
is improving day by day. With the same dedication and
good planning, it will continue to grow in future.
Information technology is on the right track in our country
and its future is also very bright!

24. You can see from the results that the IT History has not been very
good. Our present is very much satisfactory but there is a strong
need to bring revolutionary changes in the field of Information
Technology and we will bring that revolution.

25. Thanks 