The Government of the Punjab envisions Information Technologies as a vehicle for transforming the province into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic and inclusive society. Our vision is that Punjab becomes the top e-Governed, IT-enabled, e-Literate province in the region, is a preferred destination for global IT businesses and becomes a major supplier of skilled IT human resource.
Punjab IT Policy 2018
In view of these principles, the policy formulation process was carried out through three major sets of activities which are discussed briefly as follows:
Focus Group discussions were conducted at all stages of the policy-making process i.e. to identify the challenges in the status quo, to deliberate on the possible remedies and to chalk-up policy recommendations. More than 20 focus group discussions were conducted across Pakistan, bringing together members of the academia, IT industry, government departments, manufecturing sector as well as other relevant stakeholders, to make the process as inclusive as possible
In addition to the focus group discussions, it was realised that individual consultation meetings were required, especially in the case of emerging disciplines such as IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Angel Investments etc. to obtain first-hand account of the challenges and opportunities in these sectors. More than 50 individual consultation meetings were held during the process to seek input from specialists in the relevant fields
One of the key components of the policy formulation was the research undertaken by the team of researchers and interns at PITB. Moreover, highly qualified young individuals with policy research experience at both national and international level were engaged to identify global trends, local challenges, opportunities and threats. A comparative research process was also initiated to determine best policy practices from across the globe, especially in the emerging economies and the developing world. Policy documents from more than 25 countries and states were reviewed during the policy formulation process
This draft is the culmination of intense efforts by more than 200 individuals from different segments of the society. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of these individuals, who showed tremendous enthusiasm, support and participation to bring this draft to life.
We are especially grateful to Mr. Salman Ansari, Ms. Jehan Ara and Mr. Yusuf Hussain who reviewed this draft on our request and provided invaluable feedback. A special mention must also be made of McKinsey & Company who reviewed this draft and aligned it with international best practices.
The Team
The Punjab IT policy has been drafted by a group of highly motivated and dedicated team of individuals who worked tirelessly during the last six months to bring this policy draft to fruition. The members of the core team were:
Ali Sarfraz Hussain
Chairman
Sajid Latif
Director General IT
Atif Mumtaz
Director Entrepreneurship
Ahmad Islam Syan
Program Manager