IT Boom - need of the hour

While it is generally accepted that the growth of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) is a fundamental step in spurring development and growth of a developing economy such as Pakistan, it was pleasant to hear Punjabs Chief Minister mention this at a meeting held to review the implementation of development programmes in the province.
Shahbaz Sharif has stressed the development of a comprehensive programme for the promotion of information technology in the province.
Positive light is shed by the fact that the CM focused more on developing IT at the educational level, in addition to harmonizing the syllabi with the latest demands of the country as far as IT is concerned.
This is very important since the implementation of this initiative at the basic educational level goes on to establish a sound foundation of the IT industry in the country.
The scale and pace of growth in the IT sector is extremely fast, and Pakistan needs to keep abreast of all developments in the technological arena to be able to compete at a global level.
A gratifying fact is provided in the Global Information Technology Report 2009-10, where Pakistan has jumped 11 places from 98 last year to 87 this year in the Networked Readiness Index 2009-10.
According to the same report, Pakistan has improved significantly on Capacity for Innovation, though it still hasn shown commendable improvement as far as the quality of educational institutions, internet access in schools, and industry spending on R&D is concerned.
As quoted by the Pakistan Software Export Board, Pakistans IT exports are estimated at $1.4 billion while the industry size is estimated at $2.8 billion. This goes to show that around 50 percent of IT related development is export focused, an overwhelming number indeed.
An important aspect is to integrate technological developments with the real economy, and not focus on software exports only, possibly through research and development.
There is also a need to tap the potential of the IT industry, with an emphasis of integrating it with real development to help Pakistans economy become more knowledge based. Therefore, the focus needs to be on R&D with regard to IT, both in the educational and corporate arenas.
This will also be of help in promoting entrepreneurship in IT-related fields, and can help improve business processes too. Needless to say, a boom of IT will also go a long way in encouraging foreign investment in the country, if such projects are initiated and developed in Pakistan.
While the CM has stressed the use of Information technology for increasing the capacity building of various departments, particularly for the ease of facilitating the populace, one hopes it will be implemented to the extent of curbing the bottlenecks in government processes.
It is hoped that the new initiative suggested by the CM is not mere rhetoric and will be implemented in a thorough manner for the improvement and growth of information technology from a basic level.