—Seeks complete digitalization of Parliament
—Calls for developing human resources in emerging technologies
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Monday directed the authorities concerned to complete the digitalization of the Parliament within the given timelines.
He underlined the need for incorporating information technology into the business of state entities like the National Assembly, Senate etc. to improve the efficiency, transparency and responsiveness of the government.
He made these remarks while chairing a meeting on President’s Initiative for Cyber-Efficient Parliament (PICEP), at Aiwan-e-Sadr here.
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Secretary Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Abdul Aziz Uqaili, Secretary Ministry of IT & Telecom Dr Sohail Rajput, Secretary National Assembly Secretariat Tahir Hussain, and senior government officials attended the meeting.
The Ministry of IT and Telecom gave a presentation on the implementation status of the PICEP.
The meeting discussed the technical details of the project and emphasized the need to expeditiously execute it for speedy disposal of the parliamentary business.
Addressing the meeting, the president highlighted that a digitalized parliament would improve the process of planning and provide members of parliament an easy access to data and files through the latest tools and techniques.
He reiterated that the government was committed to transform the country into Digital Pakistan by transforming all ministries into digitally-empowered public organizations to improve governance and service delivery.
Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi Monday called for developing and training of the country’s human resources in the field of emerging technologies, such as blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and cyber security to meet the requirements of 4th Industrial Revolution.
He underlined the need for creating awareness about the importance and utility of blockchain technology so that the public and private sectors could benefit from it.
The president expressed these views during a meeting with an international delegation of blockchain experts, led by the Founding President of BSV Blockchain Association, James Nguyen, that called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, a press release said.
Talking to delegation, the president said that blockchain technology could become a powerful tool for tracking transactions, reducing corruption and increasing transparency in public and private sectors.
He further said that a systemic and inclusive approach was needed to fully benefit from the transformative potential of blockchain technology as well as further its implementation in Pakistan.
The president appreciated the services of Pakistan’s technology talent that had made its mark by providing the technical backbone to some of the world’s largest companies.
He highlighted the fact that during the past year, Pakistani start-ups had been able to attract valuable international investments in the IT sector.
James Nguyen briefed the meeting about the potential and uses of blockchain technology in diverse sectors of the economy such as banking, fin-tech, digital advertising, healthcare, big data, environment and governance.
He also informed the meeting regarding certain initiatives taken by BSV Blockchain in Pakistan.
