Bytesforall.org, in collaboration with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is planning to conduct "Review of Pakistan’s IT Policy and IT Action Plan”.
This brand new initiative by APC’s member in South Asia will be undertaken from a civil society perspective in order to identify the gaps and analyse their implications on community use of information and communication technology (ICT).
During the last seven years, ICTs have been one of the major areas that government of Pakistan has focused on in its development efforts. Resultantly, Pakistan’s IT policy was formulated in 2000, followed by an ambitious action plan. Since then, Pakistan has seen some impressive developments in the field of ICTs, though not all as a result of policies, but rather due to market dynamics.
For example, cellular phone coverage, the spread of the internet from mountains to coasts, the multiplication of commercial radio stations on the FM dial, the expansion of private TV channels and the progression in equipping educational institutions with IT infrastructure all show signs of rapid technological change for Pakistan.
“We think that policy documents need to be reviewed urgently to incorporate new realities of the field and make them more robust, encompassing and people friendly,” said Shahzad Ahmad of the Bytes for All team in Pakistan in early March. It appears that a few gaps in the policy documents will have some serious repercussions on the overall ‘ICT for development’ scenario in that country.
The research is to be conducted in consultation with the Pakistan Software Houses Association, the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) and other relevant stakeholders. “We also wish to involve some leading lawyers with expertise in advising on ICT policy issues,” says a recent press release on behalf of Bytes for All.
The collaborative research is then to be submitted to the government of Pakistan for consideration. Once the review will be undertaken, Bytes for All will try to arrange a consultation bringing all stakeholders together around a the table for sharing lessons learned.
Bytes for All is a communication initiative that aims to dig out stories about ICTs for development, with a particular leaning towards South Asia news. The volunteer organisation maintains a web site (www.bytesforall.org), a monthly electronic-magazine or ezine and two popular e-mail based mailing lists. The lists work as an one-stop information centre.