Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the government is taking solid measures for the rapid development of the province and promotion of information technology for equipping the youth with the modern knowledge. He expressed these views during a briefing given by senior representative of Microsoft Chris Bunio and Kamal Ahmad regarding promotion of information technology in Punjab here on Friday, disclosed an official.
Additional Chief Secretary and Secretary Information Technology were also present on the occasion. He said the setting up of IT labs in more than 4000 schools of the province would prove to be a milestone in the uplift of education sector. He also said an information technology park (ITP) would be constructed for promoting IT activities and all out encouragement and facilities would be extended to private sector for this purpose.
According to him, the Punjab government would set up an IT park in the province, which would be a hub of IT activities. Private sector would be offered all out facilities regarding establishment of the park. He said IT is essential for speedy development, therefore, the government has completed IT labs project in 4286 schools of the province at a cost of Rs 5 billion in a record period of time.
More than 3.4 million students would benefit from this project annually. IT would also be used for improving efficiency of government machinery that would result in capacity-building of government departments and solution of problems of the people expeditiously, he added. He said that Microsoft is one of the leading companies in the world and the government is interested in collaboration with this company for the promotion of information technology in the province.
The Microsoft representatives paid tributes to the Chief Minister for the completion of the historic project of IT Labs and assured that they are interested in working with the Punjab government for the promotion of IT and practical measures will soon be taken in this regard.