Experts at a seminar in Islamabad have projected that Pakistan’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy 2025 could increase the country’s GDP by 7–12% and create up to one million new jobs by 2030, if executed effectively.

The seminar, titled “Bridging Gaps in Pakistan’s AI Roadmap: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Way Forward,” was organized by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). Policymakers, tech leaders, and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss how AI could reshape Pakistan’s economy.

Dr. Anil Salman, Chair of the Government’s AI Policy Committee, highlighted that the policy focuses on building an ethical, inclusive, and innovation-driven AI ecosystem. He said the framework was shaped with input from UNESCO, ADB, and the Commonwealth, and aims to position Pakistan as a regional hub for AI development.

Dr. Najibullah, Member of Science and Technology at the Planning Commission, announced a Public Venture Capital Fund of Rs 2 billion to support AI startups and innovation accelerators. He stressed the potential of AI in agriculture, healthcare, and education, while noting challenges such as data infrastructure and cybersecurity.

From the private sector, Suniya Shahid, CEO of Techvention Ltd., called for AI funds for women-led startups and ethical auditing frameworks to ensure responsible use of AI tools.

Dr. Naveed Iftikhar, CEO of Atomcamp, joined virtually and emphasized the need for upskilling across industries, encouraging collaboration with global partners to strengthen digital infrastructure.

Closing the discussion, Dr. Nasir Iqbal, Associate Professor at PIDE, said the success of the AI policy should be measured by productivity, inclusivity, and competitiveness, warning that poor implementation could widen inequality.

The experts agreed that while Pakistan faces obstacles in infrastructure and funding, the Pakistan AI Policy 2025 provides a strong foundation for a tech-driven, knowledge-based economy.

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In late May, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Ehsaas savings wallet program in Islamabad, which will attract women to join the inclusive financial network by allowing beneficiaries to use digital wallets to save and withdraw cash.

“Bank accounts are increasing and poverty is decreasing,” the prime minister said and, “when you let women enter the financial system, they can save money, start a business and take control of their lives.”

Since only 18% of women in Pakistan are account holders, the plan aims to expand women’s financial networks. However, access to mobile money wallets requires access to mobile services and the Internet. Therefore, considering Pakistan’s mobile phone ownership, the gender gap is 38% (the highest in South Asia) and the gender gap in Internet use is 49%, so increasing the number of female digital wallets may prove to be a daunting task.

The problem does not stop there. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ) Inclusive Internet Index, Pakistan has been ranked last in terms of Internet inclusiveness in South Asia, and ranked third last in Asia in the past four years.

Although the pandemic has had a devastating impact on society and the economy, it has provided an unexpected impetus to Digital Pakistan and deserves to be emphasized. In Pakistan and around the world, digital solutions for communications, learning, health, finance, and other services have prevented the large-scale spread of the virus while enabling connectivity during large-scale power outages.

Notable examples in the education field include large-scale transfers of students to online communication platforms such as Zoom and distance school programs such as Taleem Ghar and TeleTaleem.

Pakistan’s digital response to the pandemic has exposed a series of problems that prevent digitalization. How can the country move towards a more interconnected and inclusive digital space? However, the pandemic has also made it clear that these digital solutions only apply to a small number of people.

Covid-19 has exposed several basic flaws in our social and economic systems, which show that the resources and skills needed to survive such emergencies are far from being evenly distributed. In particular, Pakistan’s digital response to the pandemic has exposed a series of problems that hinder the country’s digital connections.

Digital access is still highly dependent on income level, geographic location, and gender, and the latter is obvious in the digital space. In addition, the problems of low service efficiency, high cost, and low digital acceptance in the public sector will only widen the digital divide and continue to restrict the development of the digital economy.

The people of this country should have an inclusive, efficient, and innovative digital Pakistan. This requires a three-part strategy.

 Digital Access Is A Basic Right

 The first step is to declare digital access as a basic right. Internet access and digital participation must be addressed like any other basic need, and the gap between urban and rural areas, gender, and class must be bridged.

The core of providing digital access is an investment in digital literacy, which can broaden users’ horizons and opportunities. And telecommunications must be a basic service in future disaster planning to ensure connectivity.

Doing so will encourage better regulation, better tax policies, and faster digital adoption. These measures will require ecosystem efforts involving the public and private sectors. To this end, all government policies, programs, and interventions must focus on digitalization and be consistent with the clear goal of rapid digitalization.

Broadband regulation and services must be carefully reviewed with all stakeholders and linked to broader economic goals to ensure that digitalization becomes a national priority. These policy developments can then be coordinated as part of the Digital Pakistan Policy in 2021, which will lay the foundation for the digital economy.

Digital Government

Secondly, Pakistan must set a digital precedent for users by reforming the government itself. This happens when public services are migrated to digital channels and digitized internal government systems. As individuals and businesses, citizens interact with the government in many ways.

The government is also the main employer. Digitalization of the public sector can provide the private sector with opportunities to participate in large-scale projects and attract local customers; it will also improve government understanding of technology and may have a positive impact on future information and communication technology (ICT) decisions.

Most importantly, digital government services can become an entry point for millions of citizens, while enhancing the trust of citizens and government systems. The public sector must also be open to working with young entrepreneurs and encouraging private sector participation.

The population under the age of 30 accounts for more than 60%. Young people must master the necessary digital skills through the latest courses and the training of innovative talents in universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutes. In addition, government-led technology programs and incubators, such as the National Incubation Center, need to cover smaller cities to ensure that there is a fair space to promote innovation.

Innovative ideas can only go further if they cannot grow. Pakistan should attract domestic and foreign venture capital funds to create opportunities for start-ups to obtain investment. Facilitating the entry of investors and the establishment of new companies can promote economic growth.

However, to attract investment, the government must first stop arbitrary bans on websites or Internet services.

Participation Of The Private Sector

Finally, the digital economy is a multi-pronged approach that also requires the participation of the private sector.

The responsibility of the private sector is to develop Pakistan’s digital ecosystem. International participants must participate in the Pakistani market by establishing a local presence and investing in the public.

Large companies that have established trust among Pakistani consumers also have room to invest in social causes, such as digital visits for women. The private sector also has the capacity to provide resources and support the government in initiatives related to educational technology, financial technology, e-commerce, and public health interventions.

This approach should not exclude local participants who can contribute to technological development and Pakistan’s financial system. The technology ecosystem provides financial opportunities for start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and promotes the success of government-driven initiatives, such as Raast (Pakistan’s first instant payment system that supports end-to-end digital payments between individuals and businesses).

Investors and other companies must also prioritize responsible and sustainable business practices to build trust with the government and its consumers. This includes protecting consumer data and prioritizing network security because data protection is used, so data protection is needed. There is also room for the corporate sector to invest in social finance, which can produce long-term social and economic benefits.

Technology cannot replace the systemic reforms needed to make the world recover from Covid-19. However, it has changed the rules of the game and therefore deserves public attention. By creating a digital Pakistan that truly fits everyone, is a key opportunity to increase social and economic resilience on a large scale. We cannot let it go to waste.

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Tania Aidrus , Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Initiatives on the Next Billion Users (NBU) team at Google has resigned from her post to lead the Digital Pakistan Campaign initiated by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.

She is back after 20 years to lead the country into the digital age. At the Government initiative ‘Digital Pakistan’ inauguration on Thursday in Islamabad, the former Google executive shared her plan to lead the country’s digital transformation.

In her own words, she wants to “put Pakistan on the map” as far as technology and innovation were concerned. On social media, many young entrepreneurs are hopeful and expecting a lot from her, many are hopeful about she will give a new direction to Pakistani startup culture.

“A person I knew told the prime minister about me and he forwarded an email to his reform team to contact me,” she said. “Over the next course of months, I was in contact with Mr Jahangir Tareen and members of the federal cabinet. I even met the president before I met Prime Minister Imran and discussed the project,” she said.

Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI and @JahangirKTareen for giving me the opportunity to contribute back to Pakistan. With everyone’s support we will inshallah make #DigitalPakistan vision a reality.

As the PM says “ghabrana naheen hai” 😁

— Tania Aidrus (@taidrus) December 5, 2019

“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 added.

Tania holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSc from Brandeis University. Prior to her appointment as a Google executive, Tania co-founded a mobile health diagnosis company called ClickDiagnostics which connected rural patients in emerging markets to doctors around the world.

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Don’t miss out Pakistan’s first National Freelancing Convention to be held in Lahore

The use of internet has become compulsory now. Nowadays, from doing homework to making big business deals, internet is playing an important role. We, Pakistanis have succeeded in every field and freelancing is one of those many fields. With a constant rapid growth in freelancing Pakistan has one of the top freelancing markets.

To keep climbing the ladder Punjab Information Technology Board has now introduced National Freelancing Convention (NFC). NFC is a project that aims to provide all kinds of freelancers, bloggers etc. a single platform that will serve as the accelerator to county’s ultimate success.

The event aims to bring together all the freelancers to explore the freelancing industry and the opportunities that lie within it. The event will be attended by many stakeholders in the freelancing industry and there they will contribute to establish a well maintained and unique network of communication.

Sessions:

NFC will be presenting following sessions at the convention:

• The Art of Blogging 11:00 am-12 pm
• Building efficient Gateways for Freelancers 12 pm – 1 pm
• Women in Tech 2 pm- 3 pm
• Freelancing to Entrepreneurship; Opportunities and Challenges 3 pm- 4 pm

Meetup:

Meetups are planned to bring the people from each group to convey their message and share their ideas. The meet ups include:

• Crossover community meetup
• Official Behance community meetup
• Official Payoneer community meetup
• Facebook Developers Group meetup
• Open source Pakistan meetup
• Official Word Press community meetup
• Official Fiverr Community meetup

The event will be graced by worthy CM of Punjab, Mr. Shehbaz Sharif. He will address the attendees and according to the reports he is planning to launch e-rozgaar program officially on this day. The other notable personalities to attend the event are Dr. Umar Saif, Mr. Sajid M. Latif, and Mr. Nayyer Iqbal.

The event will be held at the Arfa Software technology Park on 28, March 2017. The timings will be from 9am to 6pm sharp and for all the willing participants we are announcing that you can register yourself on their official website. You can book your stalls and display your products. For more information click here.

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