Pakistan currently has the lowest internet user density (users per 100 individuals) of 13.8 percent in the region, however due to its geo-strategic location and access to coastlines; it has the potential to become a supply route for the neighbouring landlocked countries for internet and communication services. This was revealed in a study “Unleashing the Potential of the Internet in Central Asia and Beyond: Pakistan in Focus” conducted by the Internet Society (ISOC) in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNESCAP. The study covers ten countries from Central Asia, the Caucuses and South Asia (including Pakistan), focusing on Internet infrastructure and related issues. Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Ismail Shah, Asia-Pacific Head of ISOC, Rajnesh Singh and Mathew Perkins of UNESCAP shared some advance findings of the study regarding Pakistan in a press conference here on Tuesday.
The study will be released later this year. The synopsis highlighted some of the opportunities along with some major challenges that are faced by the region and Pakistan specifically. The report is the third in a series of studies by ISOC that looks at sub-regional Internet ecosystems and their level of progress towards transitioning to a digital economy – where the Internet is the underlying driver of all sectors across an economy. With rural areas still celebrating electricity as a ‘gift’ from the heavens, it is clear that internet connectivity is a dream that is much farther away. To say that Pakistan is technology-depressed would be an understatement. The correct way to put it would be to term Pakistan an education-deprived country. People would not know how to use the internet to their advantage even if they could avail its services for free because to do so requires a certain level of education and knowledge base, which is lacking here. This is a serious problem if we wish to increase internet user density and establish a hub for internet and communication services. There is a great opportunity waiting to be tapped that can help the country achieve its true potential, with companies the world over outsourcing work to areas where labour is cheap. Pakistan can only grab a bigger share of the pie if its population is literate and has access to the internet. But in a country where YouTube is still banned and where a regressive cybercrime bill may be enacted soon, this seems like a distant dream.
pk.shafaqna.com
