Decoding Digital Pakistan Landscape and status of Digital Pakistan Initiativ
Pakistan is among the top countries with massive scope in the tech and digital sectors. With an increasing middle class and massive educated population, the country is all poised for a digital revolution, provided the right infrastructure and policies are implemented from the top authorities.
In fact, even before the launch of the digital Pakistan initiative, Pakistan ranked on the 4th spot as the top tech freelancing country in the world. This is a great achievement looking at the rather poor state of affairs and lack of government interest in the tech industry.
According to one study, Pakistan is one of the top countries with respect to the number of smartphone users. However, the despising part about it is the fact that even with such high penetration of smartphones in the country, it’s a contribution towards the national GDP remains negligible when compared to other countries. The recent launching and success of various location-based tech businesses like Careem, Uber, Bykea, AirLift, SWVL, and others have already highlighted the potential, as well as, the scope of the tech industry in the country.
In line with the above factors, the recent launch of the Digital Pakistan Initiative by the government is a sigh of relief and a reassurance for tech professionals to continue their efforts in the industry. The scope of the initiative includes creating a conducive and supportive digital infrastructure and environment that encourage young entrepreneurs to venture and tap into the massive potential of the country. Lest we not forget that sometimes a Google executive, Mr. Lars Anthonisen (Head of Large Customer Marketing, South Asia) gave his positive opinion about Pakistan’s tech landscape, designating the country as a great potential market for investors and entrepreneurs from around the world. His remarks resonated well with Pakistan’s economic structure that’s powered by SMEs, as well as, mobile users.
What was lacking then was an official reassurance to local and international entrepreneurs/investors to take initiative to Pakistan? And now that the government of Pakistan has officially launched the campaign and has been able to attract a top Google executive to lead the campaign, the industry seems all poised to get competitive and start contributing to the national economy.
The groundwork for the campaign was started back in 2018 when the current government took over the office, determined to take ahead and diversify the economy, while also emphasizing curbing corruption and promoting transparency across all sectors. The final policy released by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom reverberated the aim of the government by stating about the initiative:
“To become a strategic enabler for an accelerated digitization ecosystem to expand the knowledge-based economy and spur socio-economic growth.”
Over the past few months, the government has shown its absolute resolve and commitment to digitalize Pakistan and already we are seeing its positive impacts across many sectors. It was this initiative that provides the government to bring transparency into various monetary schemes and identify loopholes exploited by corrupt elements.
Digital Pakistan Initiative – An Initiative with Far-Reaching Impacts!
Now, keeping in sight various possibilities of growth and improvement across all fronts, here are some of the more prominent impacts of the Digital Pakistan Initiative which we can expect to see in the near future:
- Economic and Financial Growth:
Almost all the economic and financial pundits are betting on the initiative as the game-changer for the country’s economy; hopeful that it will open up endless possibilities of growth across all sectors. The digitalization of the economy will also attract various national and international investors to venture into a huge Pakistani market; opening up employment opportunities for a large educated class of the country. Furthermore, a transparent and level playing field offered by digital Pakistan will drive innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the youngsters, who will find it easier than ever to invest across all fronts; especially in the tech industry.
- Social and Environmental Impact:
Apart from the massive impact on the economic and financial front, the Digital Pakistan Initiative will also have a lasting impact on altering the socio-environmental landscape in the country. There’s already a productive debate going-on among the policymakers and high-echelons about providing a fair and transparent platform derived by Digitalization. If achieved, this will single-handedly change the entire socio-economic condition of the country by empowering the passionate youngsters with transparent opportunities; spared by corruptions and vested interests of the higher-ranking officials.
- Property Market Expansion:
Real-state has always been a lucrative and high-performing industry in Pakistan. However, the rotten pen-paper based record keeping of the land (Patwaris) has long been abused and infested by parasitic corrupt people in power and Feudal in the country. Digitalization of the property market will thus liberate the property market from the crunches of the traditional power holders and offer a fair and transparent opportunity to businessmen across the country, thus revitalizing the industry with innovative ideas and fair competition.
All in all, the Digital Pakistan Initiative is an excellent and commendable step taken-up by the government. The long due step will prove to be a game-changer for the economic as well as social environment of the country. The initiative won’t just offer great opportunities to large passionate and educated entrepreneurs in the country but also offer a great opportunity for international investors to invest and profit from Pakistan’s huge market. Technically, this one-step open up more opportunities than ever before for Pakistan’s business sector (especially the tech industry) to claim their position in the world.
