Digitization in Pakistan: Dr. Nadeemul Haq Interviews Riaz Haq (Urdu)
Eminent Pakistani economist Dr. Nadeemul Haq (no relation to Riaz Haq) interviewed Riaz Haq last week for his podcast "Soch Bichar" to talk about the subject of "Digitization in Pakistan" in Urdu. Here is a summary of the interview:
Dr. Nadeemul Haq: How do you define "digitization"?
Riaz Haq: To me, digitization on a national scale is pervasive use of digital technologies in all aspects of life: business, trade, industry, media, finance, government, education, sports, entertainment, military, etc etc.
NH: What is happening in Pakistan on digitization?
RH: Jahangir Tareen, a close aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has recently announced the hiring of a woman of Pakistani origin who is currently working for Google in Singapore. He said she will lead the digitization effort in Pakistan from the Prime Minister's office.
NH: Is digitization possible in Pakistan?
RH: Yes, it is possible. Digitization requires digital infrastructure and human capital. Pakistan is making progress on both of these. You could argue that it is not happening fast enough but both are happening.
A lot of fiber is being laid and Zong has recently completed 5G trials. There are about 70 million subscriptions to mobile broadband. Number of smartphones being sold is rising with 1 million to 2 million being sold each month. About 30,000 to 40,000 young people with IT skillsets are graduating from various educational institutions.
NH: What can the government do to help increase digitization?
RH: The government's job is in the policy areas to facilitate it. For example, the government bureaucracy needs to ensure that the required licenses for 5G are issued in a timely manner to make it widely available. The government needs to provide various incentives to promote investment in digital fiber and data centers, etc etc. The government also needs to invest in development of human capital and skillsets needed for digitization.
NH: How can Pakistan promote digital entrepreneurship? Startups?
RH: Pakistan needs to help develop an ecosystem for startups: Legal framework, Incubators, venture capital, etc etc.
NH: Pakistan already has several incubators. What do you think about them?
RH: Pakistan can learn from Silicon Valley incubators like ycombinator. Silicon Valley incubators are created and managed by successful entrepreneurs and startup investors. Pakistan does have a few successful entrepreneurs and investors like Monis Rehman (rozee.pk), Zia Chishti (afiniti.com), Musaddir Sheikha (Careem) and Asad Jamal (ePlanet). Incubators headed by them would be more successful.
NH: What would be your advice to youngsters wanting to do startups in Pakistan?
RH: Pakistan has the world's 4th largest number of tech freelancers. Some of these freelancers have the potential to start up companies if they can get some good coaching by successful entrepreneurs and have access to venture capital. These youngsters can also grow their freelance business and use the proceeds to bootstrap into successful tech companies.
NH: Please explain for our listeners what is bootstrapping?
RH: Bootstrapping is the use of your own internally generated capital to grow a company. The most successful example of bootstrapping is Microsoft. Bill Gates and Paul Allan had developed a rudimentary BASIC interpreter with their own resources when IBM approached them and asked to purchase their "operating system". Bill and Paul didn't have an "operating system". So they bought one from Gary Kildall of Santa Cruz and sold it to IBM for its PCs. The rest is history.
NH: Will digitization in Pakistan hurt employment?
RH: Yes, that is a very valid concern. I remember when there was a Blockbuster video rental store at almost every corner in major American cities and towns. Netflix wiped them out and the franchisees and employees of the these stores lost their businesses and jobs. Similarly, Uber ride-hailing service has hurt established taxi companies and taxi drivers. However, companies like Careem, Lyft and Uber have opened up the possibility for anyone with a car to become taxi drivers on part-time and full-time basis. It's spawned "Gig Economy".
Here's the link to the podcast:
https://nhaquepod.podbean.com/e/digitization-and-startups/
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Public Sector IT Projects in Pakistan
Pakistan's Gig Economy 4th Largest in the World
Afiniti and Careem: Tech Unicorns Made in Pakistan
Pakistani American Heads Silicon Valley's Top Incubator
Silicon Valley Pakistani-Americans
Digital BRI and 5G in Pakistan
Pakistan's Demographic Dividend
Pakistan EdTech and FinTech Startups
State Bank Targets Fully Digital Economy in Pakistan
Campaign of Fear Against CPEC
Fintech Revolution in Pakistan
E-Commerce in Pakistan
The Other 99% of the Pakistan Story
FMCG Boom in Pakistan
Belt Road Forum 2019
Fiber Network Growth in Pakistan
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
Dr. Nadeemul Haq: How do you define "digitization"?
Riaz Haq: To me, digitization on a national scale is pervasive use of digital technologies in all aspects of life: business, trade, industry, media, finance, government, education, sports, entertainment, military, etc etc.
NH: What is happening in Pakistan on digitization?
RH: Jahangir Tareen, a close aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has recently announced the hiring of a woman of Pakistani origin who is currently working for Google in Singapore. He said she will lead the digitization effort in Pakistan from the Prime Minister's office.
NH: Is digitization possible in Pakistan?
RH: Yes, it is possible. Digitization requires digital infrastructure and human capital. Pakistan is making progress on both of these. You could argue that it is not happening fast enough but both are happening.
A lot of fiber is being laid and Zong has recently completed 5G trials. There are about 70 million subscriptions to mobile broadband. Number of smartphones being sold is rising with 1 million to 2 million being sold each month. About 30,000 to 40,000 young people with IT skillsets are graduating from various educational institutions.
NH: What can the government do to help increase digitization?
RH: The government's job is in the policy areas to facilitate it. For example, the government bureaucracy needs to ensure that the required licenses for 5G are issued in a timely manner to make it widely available. The government needs to provide various incentives to promote investment in digital fiber and data centers, etc etc. The government also needs to invest in development of human capital and skillsets needed for digitization.
NH: How can Pakistan promote digital entrepreneurship? Startups?
RH: Pakistan needs to help develop an ecosystem for startups: Legal framework, Incubators, venture capital, etc etc.
NH: Pakistan already has several incubators. What do you think about them?
RH: Pakistan can learn from Silicon Valley incubators like ycombinator. Silicon Valley incubators are created and managed by successful entrepreneurs and startup investors. Pakistan does have a few successful entrepreneurs and investors like Monis Rehman (rozee.pk), Zia Chishti (afiniti.com), Musaddir Sheikha (Careem) and Asad Jamal (ePlanet). Incubators headed by them would be more successful.
NH: What would be your advice to youngsters wanting to do startups in Pakistan?
RH: Pakistan has the world's 4th largest number of tech freelancers. Some of these freelancers have the potential to start up companies if they can get some good coaching by successful entrepreneurs and have access to venture capital. These youngsters can also grow their freelance business and use the proceeds to bootstrap into successful tech companies.
NH: Please explain for our listeners what is bootstrapping?
RH: Bootstrapping is the use of your own internally generated capital to grow a company. The most successful example of bootstrapping is Microsoft. Bill Gates and Paul Allan had developed a rudimentary BASIC interpreter with their own resources when IBM approached them and asked to purchase their "operating system". Bill and Paul didn't have an "operating system". So they bought one from Gary Kildall of Santa Cruz and sold it to IBM for its PCs. The rest is history.
NH: Will digitization in Pakistan hurt employment?
RH: Yes, that is a very valid concern. I remember when there was a Blockbuster video rental store at almost every corner in major American cities and towns. Netflix wiped them out and the franchisees and employees of the these stores lost their businesses and jobs. Similarly, Uber ride-hailing service has hurt established taxi companies and taxi drivers. However, companies like Careem, Lyft and Uber have opened up the possibility for anyone with a car to become taxi drivers on part-time and full-time basis. It's spawned "Gig Economy".
Here's the link to the podcast:
https://nhaquepod.podbean.com/e/digitization-and-startups/
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Public Sector IT Projects in Pakistan
Pakistan's Gig Economy 4th Largest in the World
Afiniti and Careem: Tech Unicorns Made in Pakistan
Pakistani American Heads Silicon Valley's Top Incubator
Silicon Valley Pakistani-Americans
Digital BRI and 5G in Pakistan
Pakistan's Demographic Dividend
Pakistan EdTech and FinTech Startups
State Bank Targets Fully Digital Economy in Pakistan
Campaign of Fear Against CPEC
Fintech Revolution in Pakistan
E-Commerce in Pakistan
The Other 99% of the Pakistan Story
FMCG Boom in Pakistan
Belt Road Forum 2019
Fiber Network Growth in Pakistan
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
Comments
Report Findings
Mobile technology is at the heart of digital transformation in Pakistan driving social development and economic growth. Digital transformation is underway in the country, with government and public institutions as well as private and development organisations using digital platforms to increase engagement and improve service delivery to its citizens.
Mobile broadband networks now cover 80 per cent of the population and 97 per cent of internet connections are mobile;
Pakistan has nearly 700,000 cellular IoT connections across areas including agriculture, clean energy and safe water solutions;
Mobile technology is the primary channel for digital financial services, digital birth registration initiatives, digital health solutions and digital learning;
The mobile ecosystem in Pakistan plays an increasingly important role in economic growth, contributing around $16.7 billion, equivalent to 5.4 per cent of GDP; and
Mobile operators and the ecosystem also provided direct employment to around 320,000 people in Pakistan in 2018.
Enablement of digital ecosystem is largely supported by timely policy interventions for the facilitation and enablement of the industry and most importantly the end-user.
Despite this progress, Pakistan still has much to do to realise its development aspirations as outlined in the country’s Digital Transformation initiative. The bulging youth in the country is the catalysing factor in the early realization of digital ecosystem, which is helping Pakistan in swiftly catching up with its neighbours in South Asia and countries in the Asia Pacific on several key human development indicators including education, health and gender equality. Meanwhile, rapid population growth, at nearly double the average for South Asia, could increase the pressure on existing infrastructure and services, undermining efforts to enhance social development.
Industry and Government Collaboration
Three key priorities were identified for stakeholders to enhance the impact of mobile-enabled digital transformation on Pakistan’s development aspirations:
Enhance digital and financial inclusion: Like all other developing countries and economies, Pakistan’s population is still in transition and the use mobile internet or have access to formal financial services is growing with a remarkable progress witnessed in the past few years, however, if timely actions are not taken for harnessing the benefits of digitalization and taking the opportunity to the grassroots, it may put the country at risk of missing out on the socioeconomic benefits of digital transformation. The exclusion gap cuts across gender, geographic, economic and literacy lines. For example, women are 37 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile phone.
The government, industry, tech companies and development partners are closely working to address the challenges related to connectivity, integration and modernization of telecommunication networks and services, leading to digital transformation and financial inclusion in the country.
A holistic approach to digitisation: The fragmented use of digital services by government agencies and development organisations, often leads to wastage and inefficiency in the use of resources. A whole-of-government approach to the planning and implementation of digital initiatives could increase the overall impact on society.
Use mobile platforms for national development plans: Pakistan's 12th Five-Year Development Plan runs from 2019 to 2024. There is a significant opportunity to incorporate mobile, particularly on efforts to improve areas such as gender equality, health, education and poverty reduction.
“Data consumption is forecast to increase by as much as seven times between 2018 and 2022, so tower requirements will increase too. The need of the hour is to adopt a more collaborative approach by all telecom companies to be successful in the 5G era,” he (Endotco manager) said.
With future investment plan of $100 million, the Malaysia-based Edotco Group offered telecom operators to provide shared network of mobile towers for better services to the customers in Pakistan, he said.
European countries were following the model of shared network of mobile operators to provide better services to the consumers. It would also result in saving of multi-billion dollars that were being spent on installing parallel towers by different companies.
Mr Koralage said that the company had already invested $200 million to set up mobile towers.
“To shift from 3G to 4G, there needed to be an increase in the number of sites. If each operator has their own site and tower then it will result in overcrowding of towers and therefore telcos have to adopt modern concepts being introduced by tower companies,” he said.
To fulfil the Digital Pakistan agenda of the government and meet the growing demand for data transfer, tower sharing will become essential as it is followed by other advanced countries, he added.
The Edotco official added that Pakistan still lagged behind in the digitisation race as other countries have made robust progress in the last five years. In 2018, the 4G penetration rate in Malaysia was 55pc whereas the 4G population coverage has not even crossed 50pc in Pakistan in 2019.
https://thewomenjournal.com/2019/12/former-google-executive-tania-aidrus-arrived-in-pakistan-to-head-digital-pakistan-initiative/
Tania Aidrus, a former google chief of staff and head of the strategitic initiatives at NBU, has returned to Pakistan after quitting her job several months earlier to serve Pakistan digital transformation initiative.
Before being a google executive she co-founded ClickDiagnostics, it is a mobile health diagnostic company that connected rural patients with doctors around the world. In the U.S she served as a leader in the Global Business Organization at Google and now recently in Singapore, she served as a Country Manager for South Asian Frontier markets at Google.
Tania has spent half of her life abroad and now after 20 years, she has finally returned to Pakistan after quitted her job as a Google executive. Tania quitted her job a few months earlier so that she can head Pakistan Digital initiative and lead the country into a digital age.
Today at the inauguration of Digital Pakistan at Islamabad, Tania shared her plans to lead the country’s digital transformation. She said She wants to put Pakistan on the map as far as technology and innovation was concerned.
Through this program, the paperless environments will be enforced in government departments and communication will take place through digital channels instead of papers.
During her speech at the inauguration, Tania recalled how she was contacted by PM Imran khan’s team to head the project. She told that she was introduced to the prime minister by a person she knew and after that PM forwarded an email to his reform team to contact her.
She further continued that over the course of the next few months she was in contact with Ms. Jahangir Tareen and members of the cabinet and even met the president before she Met Prime minister and discussed the project with him.
“I spent 20 years outside Pakistan,” she said. “I went abroad with a very strong message about Pakistan. People say that I am politically connected to some people. That is not the case, I don’t have a relationship with anyone in the government. My objective is simple–I just want Pakistan to succeed,” she said in her speech.
Tania said that the first and foremost important key pillar the government needs to build is access and connectivity pillar, she then quoted that A soldier from Siachen gets one opportunity a week to talk to his family members and she wanted to ensure that whenever that soldier connects with his family through video calling he can do so without any issues and disruption.
The other important key areas needed by the government of Pakistan she talked about were Digital infrastructure, E-governance, Digitisation process, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
A non-profit organization ‘Teach the World Foundation’ (TTWF) got selected for the finals of top American university Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Solve Challenge. Their project, titled Enhancing Literacy and Numeracy (ELAN), focuses on improving education outcomes in developing countries.
The Teach the World Foundation team, led by US-based Pakistanis Shafiq Khan, (CEO & Co-Founder) and Imran Sayeed (Co-Founder), is working in multiple countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malawi. TTWF works to establish effective and scalable models of literacy and learning by leveraging innovate digital technologies.
MIT Solve is a platform where tech entrepreneurs from all around the world present their ideas to solve pressing global issues. MIT Solve has partnered with the TigerIT Foundation in Bangladesh to create a challenge that “aims to find and support start-ups that will provide quality education, healthcare and employment opportunities” in Bangladesh.
Out of 628 applicants, Teach the World Foundation is one of 15 finalists chosen to present their solutions in Dhaka on the 10th – 11th of December 2019. They stand a chance to win a share of $1.5 million in funding to expand their program in Bangladesh and beyond.
In Bangladesh, TTWF is currently working in the Rohingya Refugee Camps and Dhaka urban slums. They are trying to address the issue of 2.6 million primary grade out of school children in the country alongside problems of quality as most primary-grade students exhibit poor learning outcomes.
The solution provided by TTWF to fight illiteracy is simple and inexpensive and can be implemented anywhere in the world. They use digital games on Android tablets to facilitate self-learning for primary school children. The program is currently operating in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malawi with positive results.
Teach the World Foundation has done notable work in Pakistan to provide education for all. The vision of the foundation is to help eliminate the educational crisis in the country. TTWF expects that Pakistan’s literacy rate will increase significantly with the use of technology.
Abdul Razak Dawood, advisor to Pakistani prime minister on commerce, textile, industry and production, and investment, said on Monday that the special focus of the government on e-commerce policy will benefit the country, particularly giving a quantum jump to its exports.
Addressing a workshop here on e-commerce, the advisor said that in line with the government's vision of "Digital Pakistan", many lacunas in the procedural framework will be fixed.
"The moment we start minimizing the interaction between people with everything working online, then corruption will go down, inefficiency will go down and we will be able to move in a much, much faster way," he said.
Currently, Pakistan's services sector exports are around five billion U.S. dollars, said Dawood, adding that prioritizing opportunities for the startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the policy of digitization and e-commerce, service exports could be enhanced to a great extent.
According to a report about the e-commerce policy framework of Pakistan released by the country's commerce ministry in September 2019, there are over 3.2 million SME units in Pakistan, accounting for 98 percent of all the enterprises, and the SMEs employ "nearly 78 percent of the non-agriculture labor force in Pakistan and contributes more than 30 percent" to the overall gross domestic product (GDP).
"E-commerce is an opportunity to bring SMEs in the mainstream and connect them with international markets through global e-commerce platforms as well as Pakistani online market places," the report added.
Talking to Xinhua, Badar Khushnood, a member of the Pakistani software houses association P@SHA, said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is providing a great opportunity to Pakistan to learn and collaborate with Chinese tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba to tap its e-commerce potential.
Khushnood is of the view that companies like Alibaba, Uber and Careem have conducted B2C business in the country, and the business can be further expanded within the B2B framework as well.
According to a report released by the website Export.gov which is managed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is estimated that Pakistan has around 32 million Facebook users, and one of the highest rates of smartphone penetration in South Asia at nearly 34 percent. This makes it a potential market for e-commerce services and businesses.
Jawaid Ghani, professor of strategy and marketing research at Karachi School of Business and Leadership, told Xinhua that e-commerce facilitates make transaction easier, which is essential for foreign direct investment.
To increase exports, Pakistan has to introduce new e-commerce avenues as this would increase economic activity across all levels including B2B, B2C and C2C, he said.
The Export.gov report also noted that a large component of Pakistan's economy is informal and this is mainly because the majority of transactions are conducted in cash, except for those that are very large and require a bank draft or pay order. The majority of the local companies especially the SMEs are undocumented and therefore out of the tax net.
Ghani said that e-commerce and digital payment services would ensure transparency in transaction along with bringing the documentation of the undocumented transfer of money.
The McKinsey Global Institute report estimated that Pakistan can have an increase of a cumulative seven percentage points in its GDP along with the generation of around four million new jobs during 2016-2025 through utilizing digital financial services alone.
https://www.export.gov/article?id=Pakistan-eCommerce
Describes how widely e-commerce is used, the primary sectors that sell through e-commerce, and how much product/service in each sector is sold through e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retail. Includes what a company needs to know to take advantages of e-commerce in the local market and reputable, prominent B2B websites.Last Published: 7/10/2019
Overview
Pakistan is still largely a cash-based, informal economy. The majority of transactions are conducted in cash, except for those that are very large and require a bank draft or pay order. Several studies suggest that up to 60 percent of the economy is informal, with the majority of local companies, particularly SMEs, undocumented and outside the tax net.
A number of government departments have started to offer services via the Internet. In the private sector, four Pakistani airlines now offer e-ticketing and almost all local banks offer online banking services. This segment of the economy is expected to grow steadily as there are approximately 44.6 million Internet subscribers in Pakistan and this figure is expected double during the next five years.
There are also more than 32 million Facebook users in Pakistan and several local companies now use social media to promote their products and services. Pakistan has one of the highest rates of smartphone penetration in South Asia at nearly 34 percent, and mobile banking is an area with some promise.
Current Market Trends
The e-commerce sector has focused mainly on consumer products. Online customers in Pakistan search for and purchase consumer electronics and mobile phones, employment queries, online education and counseling, sale/purchase and information gathering about vehicles, computers and accessories, financial services, laptops and notebooks, motor vehicles by brand, test preparation and tutoring, and apparel and accessories. Consumer choices and the records they generate also produce a trove of data.
eCommerce Services
There are no banned browsers in Pakistan. Google Chrome is the most popular browser with 56 percent of total visitors, followed by Microsoft Internet Explorer with 21 percent. The remaining 23 percent of searches are through Android, Safari, Opera, Opera Mini, UC Browser, Safariand Maxthon respectively. Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Android account for the longest session durations.
Popular eCommerce Sites
Some leading eCommerce websites in Pakistan are;
OLX
daraz.pk
PakWheels
Zameen
Kaymu
Shophive
Homeshopping
Online Payment
According to reports, 95 percent of e-companies get payments for their online orders by cash-on-delivery. This increases the liquidity requirements for e-commerce companies and also forces them to have dedicated teams that manage cash receipts for the company, thereby raising operational costs. The larger players in the e-commerce space have started to utilize digital payments, and are optimistic that the industry will come together to coax consumers into moving away from cash-on-delivery to online payments. Digital payments also represent a hurdle for Pakistan’s e-commerce sector. While a number of products like EasyPaisa, JazzCash, and uPaisa – which are mobile banks - are available today, none of them has high market penetration. This, coupled with the fact that only 24 percent of the country’s population has a bank account, vastly raises the cost of doing business for e-commerce companies.
https://www.export.gov/article?id=Pakistan-eCommerce
Describes how widely e-commerce is used, the primary sectors that sell through e-commerce, and how much product/service in each sector is sold through e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retail. Includes what a company needs to know to take advantages of e-commerce in the local market and reputable, prominent B2B websites.Last Published: 7/10/2019
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Mobile eCommerce
With the introduction of 3G/4G services, internet penetration has risen rapidly. Internet subscriber growth in Pakistan is averaging over 22 percent per year and total subscribers crossed the 44.6 million mark in 2018. Cheap smartphones, low cost of 3G/4G services and a consumer-goods obsessed middle class has meant that Pakistan’s e-commerce sector is “mobile first”: some e-commerce start-ups claim that over 75 percent of their total business is online.
Major Buying Holidays
E-commerce entrepreneurs enjoy heavy traffic on Pakistani holidays and event season such as Eid-ul-Fitr (June), Eid-ul-Adha (September), Black Friday, New Year and Wedding Season (October through April). Major sporting events can also drive purchases of related equipment and apparel.
Social Media
The introduction of mobile broadband coupled with affordable smartphones has driven the social media use and the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Instagram. Facebook leads social media with more than three billion connections per day and more than 17.2 million user accounts. Twitter is also fast becoming the preferred social media portal with more than 280 million connections per day. Google, You Tube and Instagram are also popular.
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.
"Today my govt fulfilled another commitment when I launched the ICT City App bringing govt directly to ppl's doorstep & all city depts together. This has become even more critical during this time of COVID 19 pandemic. As many as 43 different services are being provided online"
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1243240320231407617?s=20
Prime Minister Imran Khan late Thursday night said that his administration fulfilled yet another commitment after they launched the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) City App.
In a tweet the premier said: "Today my govt fulfilled another commitment when I launched the ICT City App bringing govt directly to ppl's doorstep & all city depts together. This has become even more critical during this time of COVID 19 pandemic."
https://www.geo.tv/latest/279383-bringing-govt-to-peoples-doorsteps-pm-imran-launches-ict-app
"As many as 43 different services are being provided online," he said.
The options include "e-policing, emergency services, NIC, domiciles, passports, arms licenses, vehicle registration, token tax payments, birth & death certificates & other services," he said.
"App will also allow rapid response by the Administration to shortages of goods incldng vital medical supplies," he noted.
"This will end inconvenience caused to citizens having to wait in long queues and numerous trips to govt offices," he expressed.
This will end inconvenience caused to citizens having to wait in long queues and numerous trips to govt offices. After a trial period in Islamabad we will introduce this service in other cities as well.
"After a trial period in Islamabad we will introduce this service in other cities as well," he added.
The country took another step towards the digital world on Monday with the launching of Raast – Pakistan’s first instant payment system that enabled end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses and government entities within seconds.
Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Raast at a ceremony here. The initiative is part of the prime minister’s “Digital Pakistan Vision” aimed at including the poor segments of society in the formal economy.
“Raast is a big step towards realising Pakistan’s potential; it will help the country move from cash economy to digital economy and help the government to collect more taxes when formal transaction channels are utilised more,” Imran said, addressing the launching ceremony in the federal capital.
Imran said that cash economy was one of the biggest hurdles for a country of 222 million to take full advantage of its potential. “Cash economy’s biggest disadvantage is tax collection; Pakistan collects the lowest tax in the world,” he said.
The prime minister regretted that only 2 million people paid taxes in a country of 220 million population, while the top-3,000 taxpayers paid 70% of the total taxes. “This is not enough to build hospitals and schools, and provide other basic facilities of life for the common man.”
The prime minister hoped that Raast will slowly and gradually take the country away from the addiction of cash economy to the digital economy and enable the country to take full advantage of its people. He said that Raast programme would take government’s other initiatives, including Ehsaas, ahead.
“The real target is to boost formal economy and our biggest problem is that we have a big informal economy,” he said, adding that the government could neither collect taxes in the presence of a big informal economy nor the country could progress. “Without revenues, there is no progress,” he said.
Prime Minister Imran said that “Pakistan can’t build infrastructure; can’t invest in human development; unable to provide education to children; can’t improve healthcare infrastructure” just because it lacked financial resources.
“The country which was making rapid progress in the region 50 years ago can’t move ahead because we don’t have enough financial resources,” he said, hoping that “Raast will take the country away from addiction of cash economy.”
Imran lauded the step of including the poor segments of society, women and overseas Pakistanis in Raast, saying it was also a big step. “Opening women’s accounts is a big step as it would help them progress,” he said, adding that women in rural areas were affected the most by poverty.
He lauded State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir, his team and several others, who made the project a reality. He encouraged them to keep thinking about bringing more remittances through formal channel and shifting more and more people from cash economy to digital one.
He thanked Queen Maxima of the Netherlands for taking interest in the programme and wellbeing of Pakistan, especially, in women living in deprived areas and wanting their financial inclusion in Pakistan. He also thanked the Gates Foundation, British High Commission and the World Bank for providing help to Pakistan.
In his address, the SBP Governor said that Raast would make payments secure, while the banks and monetary institutions will get benefits as it provided fast and cheap digital payment option for customers.
He added that it had been developed on international best practices as it would connect government institutions instantly, which meant that salaries, pensions as well as savings could instantly be paid through it.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/362818-google-research-highlights-digital-revolution-overtaking-pakistan
https://youtu.be/7mlSvA7MyWo
The two-stage study interviewed 4,135 Pakistanis aged between 15-55 in both urban and rural areas.
The study found that 76% of Pakistanis are connected to the internet in the top three cities of the country.
The study further shows 46% of all Pakistanis access the internet every day.
Pakistan is witnessing a digital revolution and most of the citizens are ready to embrace it as more than half the population of the country access internet on daily basis, a study has revealed.
Google and Kantar shared new research “Journey to Digital” about the digital population in Pakistan. The two-stage study interviewed 4,135 Pakistanis aged between 15-55 in both urban and rural areas.
The study found that 76% of Pakistanis are connected to the internet in the top three cities of the country (Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi / Islamabad).
Overall, 66% of internet users are based in urban areas while 47% are based in rural areas. The study further showed that 46% of all Pakistanis access the internet every day.
According to the study, young males are early adopters, who access the internet more than any other group. They are also keener to try new things and need the internet for education and work.
Internet usage surged due to COVID-19, finds the study, as, before the lockdown, 79% of internet users in urban locations accessed the internet daily, which increased by 10% since lockdowns were imposed.
Google Search and YouTube are most popular in Pakistan, said the study. YouTube, used by nearly 90% of all internet users, is the most popular app in Pakistan for streaming music and watching video/TV, and 38% of Pakistan's internet users go to YouTube in the research phase of their shopping journey.
The study also says that one-third of all internet users in Pakistan have made a purchase online and one-fourth of these shoppers have increased their spending during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Pakistan is a witness to the e-commerce boom as 71% of Pakistani shoppers find purchasing products or services online easy, while 66% find it convenient. Another 54% agree that online shopping websites or apps give personalised product recommendations, which is a common question from shoppers.
However, 66% of consumers believe that online shopping is the way forward, and two-thirds of Pakistan online shoppers believe that they will buy products or services online after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Faraz Azhar, Industry Head, Performance, South Asia Frontier Markets, Google explained, “With half of its population on the internet - Pakistan is now online! This is the first time Google and Kantar released a study to understand more about Pakistan’s internet population. But it’s not only about people getting online, this research has uncovered new insights and behaviours that show how COVID is impacting online behaviour and the digital opportunities waiting to be unlocked.”
"More people are coming online in Pakistan, creating a great opportunity for eCommerce businesses - if they are ready to seize it. As we see more exploration of the internet beyond social, e-retailers can capture natural cross-category purchasing on its rise, but only if they have first established themselves and their product offering in an online marketplace," he said.
Trust is also crucial, so helping customers gain confidence by showing them how easy, convenient and personal the e-shopping experience will be critical to continuing the upward rise of eCommerce in Pakistan, Leah Westwood, Client Manager at Kantar added.
The founders of Tazah Technologies, a B2B agriculture marketplace in Pakistan, met while serving leadership roles at Uber subsidiary Careem. Abrar Bajwa and Mohsin Zaka bonded during long working hours as the platform dealt with COVID-19’s impact. Eventually, the two started talking about creating their own startup. When asked how they got from ride-hailing to agri-tech, Bajwa told TechCrunch that the two grew up in farming communities. “We are from central Punjab and every family there has something to do with agriculture,” he said. “We had seen firsthand how farmers, or people who are involved in small holder farming, do not encounter social mobility based on how the deck is stacked against them.”
Agriculture is Pakistan’s biggest sector, contributing about 24% of its gross domestic product and employing half of its labor force, according to government statistics. But fragmented and complicated supply chains lead to inflated prices, food waste and low profits for farmers, all problems that Tazah wants to solve. The startup, which launched two months ago in Lahore, announced today it has raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Global Founders Capital and Zayn Capital. Other participants included Ratio Ventures, Walled City Co, i2i Ventures, Suya Ventures, Globivest, Afropreneur Syndicate, +92 Ventures, Sunu Capital, Musha Investments and angel investors like senior executives from ride-hailing platforms Careem and Swvl, where Bajwa worked before launching Tazah.
There are currently about 300 small- to medium-sized sellers buying inventory through the platform and it moves multiple truckloads of produce per day. Right now it offers five main kinds of products: ginger, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Tazah plans to expand into other vegetables and fruits, but wants to ensure that it can guarantee consistent supply and quality. For example, instead of just serving as a marketplace to connect farmer and buyers, Tazah also screens produce for quality, removing rotten produce. Then it sorts them into categories for specific types of buyers.
For example, potatoes are separated into ones for households, restaurants, small retailers, or to be made into French fries, based on what Bajwa and Zaka learned during market research. “We have spent months in wholesale markets, we’ve interviewed hundreds of retailers and we got to know that standardization of product is needed in Pakistan,” said Bajwa. “We get into the bottom of operations, because retailers will know what exactly is in the sack.” This has resulted in a monthly retention rate of more than 80%, and most customers buy from the platform about four times a week.
“We’re not just a box-moving operation because in one sack of potatoes, there can be multiple rotten potatoes, so you don’t want to just buy from farmers and then give to retailers. That doesn’t add a lot of value,” said Zaka. Tazah is currently focused on small to medium-sized sellers who are overlooked by fast-moving consumer goods and grocery product inventory providers because they aren’t able to buy at sufficient bulk. It’s also started talking to other customer segments, including B2C marketplaces, grocery apps and stores.
Increasing farmers’ profits and reducing food waste
Tazah’s founders say fragmented supply chains mean that about 30% to 40% of produce is wasted because they perish or are damaged each time they are unloaded, warehoused and reloaded onto a truck. The company wants to fix that by creating a shorter, more streamlined logistics infrastructure. It plans to keep costs down by working with third-party warehouse and trucking providers instead of owning its own facilities.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40124535
Agriculture Republic, a think tank, in collaboration with the Internet Society Global has set up Pakistan's first "Digital Dera" at remote village of Pakpattan district to train 15,000 farmers of the area in digital farming practices by providing them access to latest technology and resources in the farming sector.
In the first phase, two desktop computers and three tablets have been made available at the Dera which been equipped with a fast brand-band connection in an air-conditioned atmosphere powered by a solar system.
The rise of digital agriculture and its related technologies has opened a wealth of new data opportunities and has the potential to change agriculture for the better. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates, by 2050 Internet of Things (IoT) can help increase agricultural productivity by 70 percent. Technologies such as laser land leveling, solar-powered high efficiency irrigation systems, smart water grids and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now being used for agriculture.
Director General Agriculture (Extension) Punjab Dr Anjum Ali Buttar, who was the chief guest at the inaugural, said that the government was taking all-out steps for introduction of climate smart agricultural practices in the province. He said that changing weather patterns demand introduction of new crop varieties resistant to climate change.
"The Digital Dera is an attempt to empower local farmers through the internet connectivity and access to digital knowledge economy," said Agriculture Republic co-founder Aamer Hayat Bhandara.
https://youtu.be/eM0PfvA4aMg
While Netflix recently hiked prices in NZ, Netherlands as well as Spain, the company has reduced prices in Pakistan
Last month Netflix announced it is launching a free mobile plan in Kenya as the global streaming giant hopes to bank on the 20 million internet users the country offers. The plan will allow users to sign up free of cost and includes ads.
Netflix has experimented with a different price offerings in different countries to attract customers, esp in developing nations. The mobile plans offered in India and Pakistan are one such example.
https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/pakistan-biometric-identification-nadra/
Established in 2000, NADRA has been internationally celebrated for designing and maintaining a national database that holds the personal and biometric information of 98% of the Pakistani population. The World Bank has referred to the organization as “the single source of truth for identification data” in the country. The authority — which falls under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry, but operates as an independent corporate body — has since helped to implement identity-related projects in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and South Sudan.
But, as thousands of Pakistanis can attest, NADRA is also a perfect example of the dangers of unchecked digitization, of how centralized databases can be wielded against people who don’t fit the state’s idea of a model citizen — to the particular detriment of women, working-class people and ethnic, sexual and religious minorities — and how such systems can push someone like Gulzar even further into the margins. The information collected by NADRA, staggering in its volume and increasing by the minute, is also maintained in the absence of legal safeguards, meaning that there is no way of knowing how it has been, will be, or could be used in the future.
The last batch of 17,600 tablets powered by an indigenous solution from Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been received by the chief statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Naeem uz Zafar ahead of a planned digital population and housing census.
This brings the total number of tablets supplied for the exercise to 126,000.
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The last batch of 17,600 tablets powered by an indigenous solution from Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been received by the chief statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Naeem uz Zafar ahead of a planned digital population and housing census.
This brings the total number of tablets supplied for the exercise to 126,000.
According to an agency announcement, NADRA also played an important role in distributing the tablets to all the 495 districts, braving the odds to complete the exercise within a period of nine days.
The digital ID authority also made available about 100 experts to help in the training of over 90,000 enumerators who will be deployed on the field when the census begins.
After handing over the tablets, NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik also visited the facility offering some technical services to the census preparation process at the PBS.
Malik hailed the census as a huge step further towards a digital Pakistan: “The digital census is a step that pulls Pakistan out of ancient past and opens doors of a modern future. From scribbled responses on millions of paper sheets to real time validated data in apps on secure devices with satellite imagery – is a step towards digital Pakistan. Big data from digital census will become the foundational system for evidence based policy making for Pakistan.”
The solution from NADRA was developed in just three weeks and includes an Android-based house listing and enumeration application synchronized with GPS and GIS systems, data center and call center services, a web portal and other associated services.
NADRA is the official technology partner of the PBS for the upcoming population and housing census which is the 7th in the country but the first-ever to be done through digital means.
Biometric vehicle registration
NADRA also recently concluded a deal to henceforth conduct biometric checks on vehicle owners as part of efforts to combat fraud in vehicle transfer and ownership processes.
The deal sealed between NADRA and the Sindh Department of Excise and Taxation and Anti-Narcotics will be carried out through the ‘Sahulat Program,’ according to reporting by The Nation.
The first phase of the biometric program will run for three years.
Sindh Excise and Taxation and Anti-Narcotics Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla praised the partnership saying it will help curb the phenomenon of vehicles operating with fake documents.
NADRA recently partnered with telecoms operators for a new fingerprint system to register SIM cards in Pakistan.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1030135-first-ever-digital-population-census-in-march
ISLAMABAD: Without having the requirement of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) for verification purposes, Pakistan’s first-ever digital Population Census will collect data from 185,000 blocks in March 2023 whereby a 40-point questionnaire covering eight important areas’ details would be sought.
The 40-point questionnaire will seek information about eight broad areas in the upcoming population census exercise, including households, basic amenities, demography, education, health, employment, disability and migration.
Chief Statistician Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Dr Naeem Uz Zafar said that Pakistan’s Census in 2023 is going to be digital for the first time ever in the country’s history. All the preparations are rolled out and the team is now ready for the gigantic task. “The effort is entirely indigenous; all the systems devised and the tools created are by our own experts,” he said.
He was addressing a seminar, themed “Census 2023: All You Want to Know About” at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Islamabad on Thursday. He said census is an important national activity that is linked with resource allocation to provinces, representation in National/Provincial assemblies and the delimitation process. Therefore, the credibility of the census is of utmost importance. This is what called for comprehensive introspection leading to a solution acceptable to all i.e. digital census.
He apprised the audience that after the results of latest Census 2017 were approved in the 45th CCI meeting held on 12th April 2021, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) gave directions for the next census to start as early as possible and which should be according to international best practices by using the latest technology. The Government of Pakistan then constituted a committee of renowned demographers and experts with comprehensive TORS to bring transparency, credibility, and wider acceptability of census processes and results. For this, a board-based stakeholders’ engagement was carried out in order to have ownership of the process.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Dr Nadeem ul Haque, Vice Chancellor, PIDE, said that censuses remain controversial in Pakistan, at times delayed for over a decade. Now that we are moving toward the new census, it is time to raise all the concerns and questions we have.
“The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has estimated that there will be a total funding requirement of Rs34 billion for holding census exercise out of which Rs10 billion have been provided to PBS while they have requested the Finance Ministry to release the remaining amount of Rs24 billion,” said the top official sources while talking to The News here on Thursday.
Sources said for the first time, self enumeration facility will also be made available. Household geotagging will be done to accomplish the exercise. There will be 126,000 enumerators collecting data from 185,000 blocks from all over the country.
The army personnel will provide foolproof security to 90,000 enumerators while police personnel will also accompany the enumerators to provide security at the first stage. Then the army will deploy its Quick Response Force to ensure overall supervision of foolproof security of the whole census exercise all over the country.
Each enumerator will be responsible to collect data from two blocks in 30 days of March 2023. The PBS has already held a consultation with Director General Military Operation (DGMO) and the army showed its readiness to spare personnel for providing security.
The population census will be done on a de-jure basis as everyone will be counted where he or she stayed in the last six months and hold a plan to continue staying in the same place for the next six months.
https://www.biometricupdate.com/202302/pakistan-id-boss-to-head-undp-digital-transformation-committee-as-world-bank-mulls-funding
World Bank considers $78M project for digital public services
Malik has previously worked on identity projects with both the World Bank and UNDP. ProPakistani reports that the World Bank will consider the US$78 million ‘Pakistan: Digital Economy Enhancement Project’ that seeks a more holistic approach to digital government services for citizens and businesses.
While Pakistan has relatively robust national ID and payment systems (with links to improve service and inclusion), a lack of interoperability frameworks has limited public and private efforts for secure data exchange.
The country lacks certain elements of digital infrastructure and digital government, notes the report, though acknowledges that nearly four million citizens have been a smartphone app called the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal for accessing services or submitting grievances.
A data protection bill is still in draft form and requires more work, finds the World Bank documentation. Together these issues mean a lack of implementation support for digital projects, despite policy instruments at the federal and provincial levels. World Bank analysis therefore finds opportunities are being missed in the country’s digital transformation.
A recent opinion piece in Pakistan Today also covered elements of progress in the digital economy in the country.
Property registrars go biometric in Sindh province
All offices of the Sub-Registrar Property in Sindh province will be equipped with biometric identity verification systems to prevent impersonation in property registration, reports The Express Tribune.
NADRA Technologies Limited (NTL), a subsidiary of NADRA, signed an agreement with the Board of Revenue Sindh in Karachi, the province’s largest city. The system will be linked to the NADRA database and used to check the identity of property buyers and sellers.
The development of such systems was reported on in July 2022, with a similar biometric verification system slated for the Capital Development Authority.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40227050
KARACHI: Jazz, Pakistan’s leading digital operator and a part of VEON Group, is digitally enabling The Citizens Foundation (TCF) to implement tech-enabled learning across 1,800 TCF schools and ensuring an advanced learning experience for over 250,000 students nationwide.
As part of this initiative, 23 computer labs have already been revamped, and a school management app has been introduced in all TCF schools, offering efficiency, transparency, and accuracy of data collection and management for all students, faculty, and non-faculty employees.
The blended learning solution for primary students is an innovative approach that combines online and offline education to provide a more interactive and engaging learning experience, while the computer curriculum under DLP (Digital Literacy Program) for grades 6-8 is specifically designed to equip students with digital-age skills.
The digitization initiative also facilitated the translation of books and learning materials for grades 6 and 7 into Urdu, creating a bilingual curriculum, along with a scripted bilingual lesson plan. In addition, 700 Android phones were delivered to schools across the entire TCF network, which aided in implementation of blended learning program.
Commenting on the initiative, Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim said, "We are proud to have collaborated with TCF on this important initiative to digitize schools and provide students with access to the latest technology. Driven by the impetus to digitally empower youth and to assist the Government of Pakistan in realizing its Digital Pakistan vision, Jazz continues to club its resources and expertise in creating long-term, sustainable solutions and partnerships that uplift individuals and the larger community."
Additionally, the female teacher training program is a crucial part of the grant as it will digitally empower women to take on more leadership roles and optimize their performance, which has been a key focus area for Jazz toward building an integrated and equitable society.
Article by Andrew Sharp Photos courtesy of Sabrin Beg May 05, 2023
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2023/april/effects-technology-education-pakistan/
Lerner College (University of Delware) professors explore how electronic devices impact classrooms in Pakistan
Developing countries like Pakistan are struggling to improve education, the researchers wrote, and their governments tend to use several strategies. One is to supply technology directly to students in an effort to make up for teachers’ shortcomings. The other is costly investment in teacher training, which may not be effective if governments don’t pour substantial resources into the design and support of the project.
This research has important implications for how to improve education in countries facing similar dilemmas.
“Every country, everywhere in the world, has a constrained budget, right?” Lucas said. “That’s why there are economists. And so this is just thinking about how to use those scarce education resources most effectively.”
That’s where the research comes in. The government of Punjab province in Pakistan developed digital teaching material featuring expert teachers, and wanted to know if it would be more effective to give preloaded tablets with the high quality material to each student, or to give one tablet to the teacher along with a display screen so the teacher could present the material. The digital lessons included explainer videos, review questions and more.
Through a connection of Beg’s in Pakistan, the UD pair was brought on board to conduct the study. They examined student performance among classrooms using a randomized controlled trial in which randomly selected schools used the two different kinds of digital lessons, while control schools operated as usual. The government of Punjab provided the technology.
One outcome that surprised Beg and Lucas was the magnitude of the effects. The study found a stark difference between the outcomes of the different approaches to delivering the digital material.
The eLearn classrooms — the ones focused on providing material to teachers — did improve student learning, with students outperforming the control group by a whopping 60%. They were also 5% more likely to pass the standardized test at the end of the academic year.
The students who each got tablets, but whose teachers could not display the content to the class, actually performed 95% worse than the control group.
“Basically, it’s like (these) students almost learned nothing … relative to the control students,” Lucas said.
When each student received a tablet, Beg said, there wasn’t a way for teachers to engage with the technology. “It made it actually maybe harder for the teachers to make it part of their regular classroom teaching, whereas the screens (eLearn Classrooms) did the opposite.”
In other words, “One of the more important takeaways was that teacher engagement seems to be an important ingredient in making technology successful in the classrooms,” Beg said. Also, “It’s not something that will solve all learning crises in developing countries, but that (technology) should be integrated into the classroom.” Appropriately, of course, to avoid the negative effects.
A lot of governments, she said, find technology very promising but don’t know exactly how to integrate it to make it useful.
There’s been a tendency, Lucas said, to bypass teachers using tech or after-school programs that basically create a parallel education system. “But … what this shows is no, these teachers are capable of delivering more learning to their students. And (in this case) the way that this happened was through technology.”