Govt set to launch National Digital Commission to drive digitization: Shaza Fatima

Minister of State for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja announced a transformative step for the country’s digital future with the introduction of legislation for Digital Nation Pakistan in the National Assembly .

“At 5pm in the National Assembly (NA), the legislation for Digital Nation Pakistan will be introduced. We are hoping that within the next few days, it will be passed as a law with the National Digital Commission coming into form,” said Fatima while addressing an event in Islamabad on Monday.

She said the commission will be headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and all Chief Ministers (CM) of the four provinces will be a part of it alongside “heads of all major regulatory bodies in the country including Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), NADRA, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other important data pools will be a part of it”.

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“The commission will be followed by a Pakistan Digital Authority, which will ensure a robust and comprehensive national framework and a masterplan blueprint for national digitization, which intends to focus on three verticals i.e. economy, governance and society.

“We are hoping that with the creation of a unified digital identity for every citizen of Pakistan, we will be well on a pathway towards unlocking the true potential that this country holds,” said Fatima.

The federal minister was optimistic that within the next year, several expected developments would significantly improve the health of the county’s technology sector.

“In the coming years, we anticipate a significant increase in investment in technology infrastructure.”

In April, the government intends to auction spectrum, which would include 5G and 4G. “This will lead to significant improvement in internet services,” she said.

“All else going well, we need to acknowledge that in Pakistan the internet speed is probably not available as it should be, which impacts our freelancers and the industry,” she noted.

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The IT minister shared that talks with satellite internet service provider are in advanced stages. “We are optimistic that good news will be announced in this regard in the coming days,” she said.