ISLAMABAD: The National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) and Telenor Pakistan have come together to highlight the role of technology and exploring various avenues for introduction of latest technologies towards uplifting governance for public safety and benefit.
The Telenor Pakistan CEO Irfan Wahab Khan addressed higher officials and officers of the NHMP led by Inspector General NHMP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam in a webinar organised by the NHMP.
The session focused on the various new and upcoming trends in technology for governance, and how these advancements can aid improved and efficient systems and processes. There has been accelerated digitalization of governance bodies particularly law enforcement across the world in the past few years.
Pakistan is catching up with increased digital literacy among the masses and now there exists a need to automate and digitalize governance systems for efficient and transparent operations, the speakers said.
"Pakistan has been through a journey of digital evolution since the start of this century and now with over 79 percent cellular teledensity, it is ready to take the next leap. Technology is the biggest equalizer and with the pace at which it is evolving, it is crucial for public sector to adapt and reap its benefits", said Irfan Wahab, CEO Telenor Pakistan.
He said Telenor was well invested in artificial intelligence, internet of things, blockchain and e-payments and other modern-day technologies, which hold great promise for improving efficiencies and effectiveness for our partners.
"I would like to thank National Highway & Motorway Police for this opportunity to discuss and showcase the avenues for improving governance through technology," he added.
The session focused on inciting a dialogue on the use of social media, artificial intelligence, facial recognition, big data and analytics, internet of things and e-payments to discuss their use for bridging gap between public and law enforcement, obtaining actionable information through crowd sourcing, mobility analytics, safety surveillance, gathering sensor data for traffic management, efficient resource utilization, traffic behavior and vigilance and crime prevention.
"With our increased focus on transparency of systems and the need for improved efficiencies, we believe that the introduction of new technologies can certainly improve governance structures. We are very eager to adopt the use of these technologies in order to serve the public better as part of our vision and working closely with innovative organizations like Telenor Pakistan will bring us closer to our ambitions," said, Dr Syed Kaleem Imam.
Technology is changing the way we interact as a society, and as society evolves, so will the tools, techniques, and systems that police forces and other governance bodies can use to match the changing needs of time, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020