Final Project Presentation

Information technology (IT) is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware". IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "InfoTech". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information.

The computers came to Pakistan in mid-60 when second-generation computer was installed at Karachi. Presently, there are over 1800 mainframe and minicomputers, about half of which are in the government sector. The growth in the number of computers during the last ten years was over 35%. This has been possible due the governments liberal import policy and reduction/removal of duties. It is estimated that there are roughly 450,000 new computers every year in Pakistan. While this seems a pitifully the small numbers, it represents a three-fold increase compared to 1996-1997.

Some of the major uses of IT in Pakistan were:

Good GovernanceDefenseHigh Agricultural YieldIndustrial EnergyEducationEntertainment

Missile Technology

TV Satellite

JF Thunder

Countrywide Internet Access

Currently Pakistan is making steady progress in the field of Information Technology. Following are some of the main aspects that have been considered by the IT Policy that was presented in 2002.

Produce 50,000 highly qualified IT Graduates annually within 7 years to meet the multibillion dollar Export TargetImpart vocational training to over 100,000 Knowledge workers for IT enabled services within 2 years Develop world class Institutions of Higher Learning Strengthen Faculty and Infrastructure of Existing UniversitiesDevelop a modern countrywide Telecom infrastructure and make it affordable.Develop Pakistan into a regional hub for Telecommunication and Information flowLaunch a Geo Satellite to extendtelecommunication-broadcasting facilities to remote areas within Pakistan and the neighboring countries

Make Government Information and forms available to citizens on-lineBring significant improvement in services like Bill Payment, Agency Specific Applications, Complaint Handling, etc.Eliminate the time spent by the citizens waiting in long queuesStimulate the Domestic EconomyCreate jobs and economic growth in the local economy by strengthening the IT industry.Apply IT to the traditional industry to increase its productivityCreate environment to facilitate e-commerceFacilitate the automation of banks and other sectors to improve the general business climateIncrease Exports

To meet the growing demand of IT professionals new IT universities are being established in the public sector. The buildings are being acquired through donations or by leasing at low rent. The IT campuses will be expanded to full-fledged universities when they acquire their charter. Establishment of 7 new IT universities and departments with improved faculty and resources has been initiated.

The objective of setting up the National Testing Service is to provide an affordable, indigenous service similar to the Educational Testing Service, USA that offers Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The testing service can be used as entrance criteria by educational institutions, for the award of scholarship, an aid to employers in recruitment, or for any other situation where a widely accepted standard test is required. The project will be initiated shortly.

Considerable progress has been made in the recent past to implement and enhance Fiber Optic Connectivity in all parts of Pakistan. During the past 1 year, fiber optic connectivity has been increased from 114 to 158 cities. It is targeted to reach 300 cities by the end of the year 2010. Activation of the alternate Fiber optic backbone from Karachi to Peshawar, providing 622 Mbps connectivity is targeted for completion by June 2002. This will be in addition to the existing fiber backbone that is to be upgraded with Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology thereby increasing the capacity from 622 Mbps to 10 GBps by January 2003.

The bandwidth tariff for the entire portfolio of services provided by PTCL has decreased under an accelerated re-balancing plan. Accordingly the Internet tariff has been reduced to 1/16th in the past 2 years International E1 (2 Mbps) Internet connectivity is now available at USD 6000 per month as compared to the price of USD 83,000 per month prevailing 2 years ago.

The Internet Services Providers (ISPs) became operational in the country in 1996. By June 30, 2000 the country had 0.1 million Internet Subscribers and coverage to only 29 cities. Now internet access spread to over 700 localities throughout the country including some far flung remote areas and internet usage has spread many folds.

To facilitate e-commerce and other on-line transactions requiring digital signature and authentication the IT Law has been drafted and reviewed with the Law Ministry. This Ordinance when promulgated will open the way for electronic transactions by providing it a legal cover. The draft ordinances for these laws and the Intellectual Property Law are expected to be finalized soon.

Strengthening of IT InstitutesScholarship SchemesIT Education in Schools and CollegesProfessional Training ProgramsTraining Higher Level IT ProfessionalsComputer Education at Primary LevelFree Computer Resource Centers in Rural AreasInformation Technology ParksIncrease in Bandwidth of InternetProviding IT Companies more resources

Although we started in late 80s, Pakistan has already become to contribute a respectable share in the world of Information Technology worldwide; especially the last decade has proved very significant in the grooming of IT industry in our country. The Information Technology burst has provided Pakistan a dream for future in which IT can be used to improve the standards of our people. It can help us develop our lives better by tapping the common benefits of the Internet, and it can also aid to move further than the digital divide to digital opportunity.

Government of Pakistan has been taking deep interest in making the IT industry of Pakistan a strong one. In this regard, the Federal Cabinet passed National IT Policy in August 2000, according to which Government will act as enabler to produce an IT based future economy. There are a number of important features in this policy like human resource development, IT infrastructure development, efficiency and transparency in Government, improve services to citizens, stimulate the domestic economy and increase exports, etc. Government of Pakistan is reengineering its old processes to improve the efficiency. They are employing IT to improve the speed of communication and keep track of its performance.

The first and foremost need is to develop human resources in the field of IT. Currently Pakistan has lesser number of people than the actual required count in order to compete worldwide. We are in need of producing thousands of high quality IT graduates every year. Keeping this purpose in mind, many initiatives have been taken to increase the capacity of existing institutions and to build the new ones. These universities will impart education related to IT field. New higher education programs have been set and, for this purpose, new faculty is induced.

On the whole, the future of IT in Pakistan is very bright. Our IT policy has given Pakistan special courage to compete in todays world of IT. It has enabled Pakistan to stand amongst the top countries with respect to IT and it is improving day by day. With the same dedication and good planning, it will continue to grow in future. Information technology is on the right track in our country and its future is also very bright!

You can see from the results that the IT History has not been very good. Our present is very much satisfactory but there is a strong need to bring revolutionary changes in the field of Information Technology and we will bring that revolution.

Thanks

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