A Digital Pakistan

Digitalization - a revolution in itself, is redefining the way people live, interact, transact and develop as one world. The impact of digital change is rapid and far reaching. Never have individuals, businesses and nations been so dependent on technology, as they are today.

The case for digitalization needs no winning arguments. Nations becoming increasingly digital have experienced growth and productivity in their economies and businesses, leading to more jobs, higher levels of innovation, and better quality of life.

Accelerate to the Digital State is an aspirational effort to assist the digitalization journey of Pakistan. This site is positioned to propel forward the agenda for digital policy formulation and implementation in the country, in collaboration with key stakeholders of the digital ecosystem
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THE CHALLENGES

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Pakistan’s digital journey has gained much attention in the last few years. While the Government is taking the right steps towards going digital, the pace is still slow when compared to other countries in the globe.

There are still challenging areas Pakistan needs to address both in policy making and implementation at the national level. Ownership of policy is also less clear at this stage and needs some focus from the authorities. The devolution of powers to provinces along with the lack of policy alignment has contributed to disparities in national and provincial agendas.

Although public-private partnerships exist, the holistic impacts of PPPs are missing due to absence of consistent, dedicated efforts. Other challenges include fragmented growth in sectors and a weaker regulatory and legal regime in face of changing digitalization demands. Poor facilities, lack of access, and limited awareness and literacy also contribute to the ineffective delivery of services across sectors.

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The report proposes a set of nine recommendations under three well-defined areas of focus:
Policy Making, Digital Services’ Growth, and Enabling Environment

SECTOR
DIGITALIZATION

In 2015, Pakistan’s GDP composition of each sector shows the contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to be at 20.9%, 20.3%, and 58.8% respectively.

The growth in the services sector has been on a consistent rise (increase from 4.37% in 2014 to 4.95% in 2015). Digitalizing the services sector can further enhance growth and in turn have a positive impact on the GDP. Taking this into account, four sectors have been selected – commerce, health, education, and agriculture.

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A Digital Pakistan

Digitalization - a revolution in itself, is redefining the way people live, interact, transact and develop as one world. The impact of digital change is rapid and far reaching. Never have individuals, businesses and nations been so dependent on technology, as they are today.

The case for digitalization needs no winning arguments. Nations becoming increasingly digital have experienced growth and productivity in their economies and businesses, leading to more jobs, higher levels of innovation, and better quality of life.

Accelerate to the Digital State is an aspirational effort to assist the digitalization journey of Pakistan. This site is positioned to propel forward the agenda for digital policy formulation and implementation in the country, in collaboration with key stakeholders of the digital ecosystem

“Scroll over each country to view their
Digital Policies & Frameworks”

The Challenges

Policy
making
gaps

  • gaps in policy
    framework
  • infectiveness
    in policy
    implementation
  • discrepancies in
    policy ownership
    and governance

limited
digital
services

  • limited provision
    of e-citizen
    services
  • scarcity of
    public-private
    partnership
  •  

environmental
barriers

  • Absence of Advance
    Regulatory
    Frameworks
  • Impediments in
    Adoption


Pakistan’s digital journey has gained much attention in the last few years. While the Government is taking the right steps towards going digital, the pace is still slow when compared to other countries in the globe.

There are still challenging areas Pakistan needs to address both in policy making and implementation at the national level. Ownership of policy is also less clear at this stage and needs some focus from the authorities. The devolution of powers to provinces along with the lack of policy alignment has contributed to disparities in national and provincial agendas.

Although public-private partnerships exist, the holistic impacts of PPPs are missing due to absence of consistent, dedicated efforts. Other challenges include fragmented growth in sectors and a weaker regulatory and legal regime in face of changing digitalization demands. Poor facilities, lack of access, and limited awareness and literacy also contribute to the ineffective delivery of services across sectors.

recommendations

The report proposes a set of nine recommendations under three well-defined areas of focus: Policy Making, Digital Services’ and Growth,Enabling Environment

policy making

TAP
1
ESTABLISH OWNERSHIP OF

DIGITAL AGENDA

WHAT
  • Establish vision and ownership of the digital agenda at the top-most level of the government
  • Ensure national and provincial prioritization of the digital agenda as thegovernment’s top focus area
WHY
  • To create a unified, synergistic national direction propelled by the top-most level
  • To create a trickle-down effect for provincial governments to prioritize the digital agenda
HOW
  • Onboard and align top leadership at national and provincial levels to move towards one digital vision
  • Ensure agreement on establishment of the digital agenda through multi-stakeholder consultativeprocess
  • Include digitalization as a priority area
    in political manifestos
2
Install the Righ

Governance
STRUCTURE

WHAT
  • Develop a governance structure with clear roles and responsibilities at the right level – at both federal and provincial levels
WHY
  • To allow efficient and effective implementation of the digital agenda
  • To establish responsibility, accountability, and transparency of roles
  • To improve coordination between different ministries and departments
HOW
  • Drive digital strategy development from top-to-bottom
  • Identify key actors at both federal and provincial levels
  • Assign a coordinator to facilitate inter-ministry communication for provision of d-Services
  • Create an advisory board for the solicitation of input from external stakeholders
  • Set up an independent monitoring & evaluation body to assess digital initiatives
3
Develop a Holistic

Digital
Framework

WHAT
  • Identify focus areas and formulate policies to accelerate the digitalization process
  • Establish guidelines for implementation with measureable targets for priority sectors and related digital technologies
WHY
  • To create alignment between policy making bodies at federal and provincial levels
  • To reduce disparities and ensure alignment amongst different provinces towards the pursuit of digital frameworks
HOW
  • Align with national, provincial, and sectoral policy making bodies to ensure a collaborative approach towards creating a holistic digital agenda framework
  • Establish a centralized agenda which delineates targets, goals, timelines and deliverables, sources of funding, roles and responsibilities for stakeholders, clear implementation plans, and monitoring and evaluation guidelines

DIGITAL SERVICES
GROWTH

4
Establish a Centralized platform for

d

-Services

WHAT
  • Digitalize internal processes of both federal ministries and provincial bodies
  • Create an online platform to deliver d-Services
WHY
  • To create a seamless ecosystem which can deliver d-Services
  • To increase the efficiency, accountability, and transparency of d-Services
  • To improve ease and convenience for citizens
HOW
  • Map existing processes and conduct need-gap analysis in the public sector enterprises, government bodies, and ministeries
  • Integrate existing databases in the public sector domain
  • Initiate the budgeting process to allocate funds
    for the digitalization process
  • Identify and invest in relevant technologies for digitalizing manual processes
  • Improve digital literacy amongst public sector employees to ensure sustained adoption
  • Establish accountability mechanisms to ensure efficient delivery of d-Services
5
Deliver Prioritized

d

-Services

WHAT
  • Identify sequential delivery of d-Services
  • Increase awareness amongst masses to ensure adoption
  • Link and align private (Business-to-Government) and public (Government-to-Business, Government-to-Consumers) d-Services
WHY
  • To improve the ease of access for citizens for d-Services
  • To reduce processing time and costs associated with delivering d-Services
  • To increase efficiency, accountability, and transparency of government services
  • To improve citizens’ trust in governmental processes
HOW
  • Identify and set targets for high-impact d-Services
  • Increase awareness, access, and literacy of the population
6
Provide “All”

d

-Services and

integrated Cross-
Sector Services

WHAT
  • Intra-sector – Digitalize value chains of key sectors such as agriculture, commerce, health, transport, and education
  • Inter-sector – Improve the value chain collaborations between different sectors
WHY
  • To take the services’ provisioning to a higher level of integration
  • To reduce the multiple layers in end-to-end service delivery
  • To grow and develop sectors with convergence and integration across sectors
HOW
  • Digitalize existing operations and bring them to online platforms through integration of value chains
  • Improve access, infrastructure, and literacy of the population to operate digital technologies
  • Digitize data – Utilize Big Data in cross-sectoral projects
  • Utilize Public-Private Partnerships for planning, funding, and implementing programs

Enabling
Environment

7
Improve Capabilities for

Digital Adoption

WHAT
  • Improve readiness by focusing on four key components: infrastructure, access, digital skills, and digital content
WHY
  • To reduce the existing digital divide
  • To enhance adoption of d-Services by citizens
HOW
  • Conduct a need gap analysis to determine underserved regions and communities
  • Identify and enable partnerships of relevant stakeholders in the public and private sectors for digital initiatives focused on improving the four key components
  • Support relevant federal ministries and provincial bodies to improve on the four key components
8
Increase Public-
Private Partnerships (PPP)

New Business Models
STRUCTURE

WHAT
  • Increase collaboration opportunities between the public sector, private sector, and multi-lateral agencies
  • Encourage startups by creating a supportive ecosystem
WHY
  • To realize the full potential of PPPs in terms of scale, revenue, and operational efficiencies
  • To use opportunities for innovation and utilization of new technologies
  • To increase the level of economic activity through initiatives such as startups and entrepreneurial ventures
HOW
  • Public sector to offer support, scale, funding and subsidies; Private sector to harness skills and expertise
  • Select and pursue programs delivering value to government and citizens while creating commercially attractive business opportunities for the private sector
  • Update existing regulations, reduce hurdles and streamline processes to encourage PPPs
  • Create a conducive, level playing field for both local and international players
  • Incentivize corporations and venture capitalists to mentor and invest in startups
9
Evolve the Regulatory

Framework

WHAT
  • Update existing and develop new regulatory frameworks for business models to cater to new digital technologies such as Big Data, Internet of Things, and Cloud Computing
  • Review of existing policies for ICT involvement in sectoral value chains
  • Create more opportunities at industry-academia level for Research & Development (R&D) to establish a knowledge-based economy
WHY
  • To provide a regulatory environment that facilitates competition, privacy, and data & consumer protection, without hampering the growth of technological advancements
  • To cater for the dependencies of cross sectoral collaborations
  • To ensure prioritization of research enabled innovation
HOW
  • Review existing policies and develop regulatory frameworks to reflect changes in the latest technologies and market demand
  • Identify relevant stakeholders and ensure multi-stakeholder consultative process for the framework development
  • To deploy the learnings from international best practices
  • Identify and allocate sufficient amounts of funding for R&D, both in public and private sector enterprises
  • Promote R&D for technology amongst educational,private, and public bodies

SECTOR
DIGITALIZATION

In 2015, Pakistan’s GDP composition of each sector shows the contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to be at 20.9%, 20.3%, and 58.8% respectively.

The growth in the services sector has been on a consistent rise (increase from 4.37% in 2014 to 4.95% in 2015). Digitalizing the services sector can further enhance growth and in turn have a positive impact on the GDP. Taking this into account, four sectors have been selected – commerce, health, education, and agriculture.

EDUCATION

With a literacy rate of only 58% (2015) and over 22.6 million out of school children (2015 – 2016), Pakistan’s education sector is in need for a major overhaul. Digitalization of the education sector can help improve access and the quality of education in the country.
Literacy rate in

  • 74%
    urban
    areas at
  • compared to a

  • 49%
    for the
    rural areas
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COMMERCE

e-Commerce in Pakistan is forecasted to generate US $1 Billion by 2020. e-Commerce companies boast as average of up to 300% growth per year.
For example, recent investments by Rocket Internet Group of Companies and the intention of investment shown by Alibaba in the recent MoU signing with the Government of Pakistan are just a few examples showing the promising growth of this sector.

  • compared to a

helth

HEALTH

By offering health services from afar, via digital means, e-Health can help bridge gaps in healthcare access and availability.
Current statistics indicate that there is

  • doctor
    1 doctor for
    areas at
  • hospital

    1 hospital
    bed for
    1,584 persons

  • dentist
    1 dentist for
    10,658 persons
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agriculture

AGRICULTURE

There is currently a 40% yield per acre gap between Pakistan and other countries in the region, leaving a huge margin for improvement. Replacing outdated harvesting and cultivation techniques with technological solutions and digitalization of the agriculture value chain is critical to the sector’s overall growth and development.

  • 42%
    of the
    labor force
Pakistan’s economy is still
largely dependent on agriculture,
with the sector employing.
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publication

The Publication

Click Here
To Download The Full Report
and see a complete set of recommendations
Click Here
To download the summary of
the report

CONTACT US