Latest news with #MoIT&T
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Ministry aims to boost IT exports to $15bn by 2029: Shaza
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said her ministry was determined to achieve the target of elevating the country's IT exports to $15 billion by 2029. She underlined that a future-ready human resource is the key component for achievement of this target. Khawaja reiterated the government's commitment to facilitating the academia, industry and all relevant stakeholders in removing the hurdles blocking the employability of computing graduates. The minister was addressing a national conference titled, 'Zero-Day Employability of Computing Graduates' organised by Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan in collaboration with MoIT&T and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) on Thursday. Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Secretary MoIT&T Zarraz Hasham Khan, vice chancellors of a large number of universities, faculty members, and IT industry representatives attended the conference. Khawaja emphasised the need for economic impact in the country through digital transformation by unlocking the country's IT potential. She highlighted that Pakistan is blessed with talented youth and there is a need to hone this asset. She noted it is the high time for introspection, identification of challenges, and exploitation of strengths to set a right direction. She said the government is cognisant of the challenges; however, it is pivotal to be on the path of addressing the challenges. She asserted that, 'conferences are literally determining the future of Pakistan.' She urged the universities to prepare the youth for the future technological advancements and produce graduates who make the IT sector viable. She underlined the significance of rewarding and penalizing the universities for the performance in order to materialise the vision of IT sector's growth. There is, she noted, a tsunami of change wherein everything has been automated. She made a collective call to action to come out of the existing structures and propose innovative interventions. Chairman HEC Dr Ahmed highlighted HEC's measures to bridge the gap of liabilities in the IT sector. He said that academia-industry linkages are a vital means to cope up with the industry's hampered growth, as it is high time to upgrade the systems. He informed the audience that HEC has developed a new Computing Education curriculum and has shared it with the universities for adoption. He said that the curriculum is based 80 percent on hands-on skills. He hoped that it will open up a window for employability of graduates. The chairman highlighted that Pakistani youth have been achieving huge success in the Huawei Imagine Cup competitions. He said the country's youth has a great potential in all the areas including technology. He added that the Pakistani university graduates and the HEC scholarship recipients are playing their appreciable role in taking up Pakistan in the technological sphere. Secretary MoIT&T Zarrar Hashim Khan shared a detailed presentation on the National IT Roadmap drafted in consultation and deliberations with stakeholders. He pointed out the key challenges in the IT industry triggering low exports such as systemic and structural issues, educational and skill development issues, and workplace and industry dynamics. 'If we do not address them structurally, we will lag behind,' he emphasised. He also presented recommendations to put in action for sectoral growth, including having a standardized testing mechanism, skill-based certification courses integrated with curricula, and work with industry by final year students. He stressed the need for academic and workforce readiness and strong collaboration between the IT industry and academics to address employability gap. He underlined that the industry's productivity and a remarkable increase in consistent exports are among the top objectives to be followed. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
04-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
NA committee stands firm on telecom dues
Listen to article ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Panel on Tuesday agreed not to grant any concessions to Long Distance and International (LDI) license companies in the recovery of Rs78 billion in dues. It also resolved to activate the Telecom Tribunal to expedite the matter. Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) Chairman, Major General (Retd) Hafeezur Rehman, informed the committee that in the past six years, Rs1,700 billion had been deposited into the national treasury from telecom companies in the form of taxes, yet not a single rupee had been spent by the government to improve the country's network infrastructure. The National Assembly's Standing Committee on IT and Telecommunications, which met on Tuesday, expressed its displeasure over the delay in necessary steps for digitisation, the launch of services by Starlink and Chinese companies, and the slow pace of projects related to IT park construction. Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on IT & Telecom, Syed Aminul Haq, also voiced concerns over the non-utilisation of Rs6 billion allocated for the Karachi IT Park project in the current financial year, the delay in the Personal Data Protection Bill, and the pending Artificial Intelligence Policy. The 11th meeting of the Standing Committee on IT and Telecom was attended by Syed Mustafa Kamal, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Ahmed Atiq Anwar, Umair Khan Niazi, Rumeena Khursheed Alam, Dr Mahesh Kumar, Adil Khan Bazai, Mukhtar Ahmed Malik, Parliamentary Secretary for IT Sabeen Ghauri, Secretary IT Zarar Hashim Khan, Special Secretary Azfar Manzoor, Member Telecom Jahanzeb Rahim, Chairman PTA Major General (Retd) Hafeezur Rehman, CEO Universal Service Fund (USF) Chaudhry Mudassar Naveed, and CEO Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Abu Bakar. Joint Secretary Saima Ahad briefed the meeting on progress in public sector development programmes (PSDP) under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication (MoIT&T) and its affiliated institutions. She stated that Rs24 billion had been allocated for this purpose in the current financial year. Committee members raised concerns over broadband services provided by the Special Communication Organisation (SCO) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). Syed Aminul Haq directed the MoIT&T to expedite improvements in broadband services in AJK and G-B, finalise the fiberisation policy, propose government funding for USF, resolve matters related to Starlink, and establish the Telecom Tribunal, with a report to be submitted to the committee. On members' suggestions, Haq instructed the MoIT&T to submit proposals for separate federal government grants to the Universal Service Fund, which receives 1.5% of telecom companies' revenue, so the matter could be raised with the prime minister. Haq emphasised that telecom companies focus their investments in urban areas, but government grants for USF are essential for expanding broadband services and laying optical fibre cables in remote and underdeveloped regions. With sufficient funding, broadband services and fiberisation across the country can progress quickly, benefiting the public and advancing the government's digitisation goals, while also facilitating IT export targets. "These steps are necessary to connect with the digital world and keep pace with technological advancements," he added.
