Technology for People Initiative (TPI)

15/06/2022

‘… Governments continue to invest in critical application software that directly support end user interfaces driving strong growth in this segment. Spending on telecom services is set to decrease in 2022 as governments reduce spending on expensive legacy systems in favor of digital service delivery models…’

Worldwide government IT spending is forecast to total $565.7 billion in 2022, an increase of 5% from 2021, according to Gartner, Inc

10/06/2022

‘… President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi shared that the government of Pakistan’s ‘Digiskills Training’ programme was the first and the largest national project that has trained 2.2 million youth free of cost in digital skills required to transform youth into successful freelancers and entrepreneurs. Pakistan is ranked the fourth-largest freelancer market globally.

He also highlighted the role of artificial intelligence, saying that AI is swiftly becoming a new horizontal for the global tech industry…’

He was addressing participants of Future Fest 2022

31/05/2022

"ITC managed to prove mathematically that many traffic jams can be prevented — if you intervene early enough," said its co-founder and chief technology officer Dvir Kenig, citing a 30 per cent drop in traffic at the two junctions using their system.
The company says road congestion is a global scourge, calculating that the average driver spends three days a year stuck in traffic, also pumping out greenhouse gas emissions.

ITC software collects real-time data from road cameras and sends instructions to manipulate traffic lights based on vehicle flow.

28/05/2022

The Punjab government has announced to hold an 8-day training program for IT and Computer Science school teachers in all districts of the province. The training aims to equip them with 21st-century digital skills.

The Punjab government has announced to hold an 8-day training program for IT and Computer Science school teachers in all districts of the province. The

25/05/2022

Rehan Allahwala, a start-up creator, said there were around 150 million smart phone users in Pakistan, but there was a “fundamental problem” of lack of awareness to use them to earn money.

He said youth with digital skills could help Pakistan earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, provided they are equipped with proper skills.

ISLAMABAD: Information technology and digital experts have called for making new emerging skills part of curriculum in Pakistani educational institutions to help youth earn valuable foreign exchange for the South Asian country through freelancing. The call was made by innovators while sharing their....

18/05/2022

'.. Over 10mn customers sign up for SBP’s Raast payment service The aggregate value of P2P transactions on Raast has crossed Rs36 billion.
Raast is Pakistan’s first instant payment system that will enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses and government entities instantaneously. The state-of-the-art Pakistan’s Faster Payment System will be used to settle small-value retail payments in real time while at the same time provide a cheap and universal access to all players in the financial industry including commercial banks, microfinance banks and government entities..'

Over 10mn customers sign up for SBP’s Raast payment service The aggregate value of P2P transactions on Raast has crossed Rs36 billion...

16/05/2022

Gretchen Brainard, offering portfolio leader for government and public services customer and marketing at Deloitte, says there are several common trends regarding the future use and evolution of predictive analytic technologies.
Brainard says many agencies operationalize, deploy and scale predictive modeling and forecasting across a wide range of critical priorities. This includes health and environmental predictions, economic analyses and support for at-risk populations.

These tools will become more mature in the Defense Department and civilian agencies as well, experts say.

13/05/2022

"In less than a decade, financial technology has permanently transformed the financial services sector. Challenging the monopoly once held by large banks, fintech startups now have the potential to become established brands. Mahmood Shamsher Ali, Alif Bank’s country representative in Pakistan, outlines why Pakistan is prime for a fintech revolution."

In less than a decade, financial technology has permanently transformed the financial services sector.

10/05/2022

'... Estonia has been an early and effective user of blockchain technology in government service delivery. The e-Estonia program supports multiple features such as e-identity, e-healthcare, and e-governance. Today, 98 percent of Estonians complete their tax filings online and 99 percent of their health data is digitized and stored via blockchain technology. Other countries such as Georgia and Sweden use blockchain technology to manage assets...The successful implementation of blockchain technology to improve government service delivery will ultimately depend on a supportive policy environment, a business ecosystem that is ready to exploit the new opportunities that technology opens, and a suitable industry mix..'

There are a plethora of areas in which blockchain adoption by governments would benefit beyond payments and financial services

02/05/2022

'...The e-Pay Punjab, an online payment solution and a joint initiative of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Punjab Finance Department, has achieved another landmark by collecting over Rs. 80 billion tax revenue through 15 million transactions to date.
Speaking at the occasion, PITB Chairman Asif Balal Lodhi said, “Automation of online tax payment system through e-Pay Punjab has made government collections easier by making the payments process prompt and hassle-free.” In the meeting, it was informed that e-Pay Punjab app has been downloaded by over 1 million citizens...'

Lahore: 21 April 2022

30/04/2022

‘… A need was felt to develop a framework at the policy level that can help guide the PTA to integrate the gender mainstreaming at an institutional level. As a result of which UNESCO decided to support the formulation of the digital inclusion and gender mainstreaming strategy to promote access to information through ICTs in Pakistan. The strategy will help support duty bearers through informed policy advice and strategies to improve institutional frameworks on promoting access to information online and offline and mainstreaming and gender responsive approach…’

To recovery and beyond: The report takes stock of the global progress on the adoption and implementation of legal guarantees on Access to Informati

27/04/2022

In collaboration with the Social Welfare Department GB, UNICEF and OPM, TPI successfully conducted Training of Trainers on the Child Protection Information Management System. The software is customized to deal with child protection issues specific to GB’s child protection laws.