The Potential and Hurdles of an Anticipated Digitally Governed Pakistan
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
By Mohsina Asif
Blockchains, NFTs, cryptocurrency, IoT, fintech, metaverse, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality—these are just a few of the many technologies to have emerged in recent years. What would have appeared to be mere sci-fi fantasies till a few years earlier are now booming as ground realities around us. Our world is fast, dynamic, data-driven, and transitioning into a digitalized cluster where boundaries between different disciplines are diffusing. Globally, standing in the middle of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, every country—especially developing countries like Pakistan itself—has encountered some intimidating yet important questions. How well, as a nation, are we adapting to these technologies? Are we even adapting at all? What are the prospects of implementing advanced technologies in the government sector? Are the impending risks and compliance costs of this transformation even worth it? Can we ever become more than just users—collaborators or even creators in this global movement? While it may be difficult or even impossible to completely answer these questions, we must attempt to frame these dilemmas against the present circumstances and imminent future of Pakistan.
Before we proceed, it is important to discern two terms that are often wrongly interchangeably used: digitization and digitalization. Digitization is converting a process from analog to digital, for example, using a spreadsheet such as Excel to log some entries instead of using a conventional paper-based register. Digitalization is a step ahead of digitization. It is leveraging our digitized solution to fully exploit the beneficial impacts of this transformation, for example, running meaningful statistical and graphical analysis on the data we had digitized earlier. Pakistan, like most other developing countries, is in the first digitization phase right now.
A key dilemma of digitization and digitalization in developing countries is the problem of access. Of course, technological innovation would make any process more efficient; cut down the time, labor, and cost associated with cumbersome manual processes; greatly reduce human errors; and create logistics and communication channels that are productive. The effects will be the same for any public sector procedure that is digitally reformed. However, it will be important to analyze if the required legal and structural framework for this change exists for all sections of society. A good example of this might be the Prime Minister Portal Application. This application is a quick single solution that facilitates all complaints, records maintenance, and feedback-receival regarding how cities and towns are being run. But would a common woman in Thar even know about this service? Does she have a cell phone or the means to download such an application and run it? Will she be able to navigate through the application? Before we jump into introducing innovative solutions to a larger scale, the foremost step should be ensuring mass accessibility and connection. While cellular connectivity has tremendously grown in recent years, grassroots efforts in the education sector will be needed to fully counter the fallacies that may occur in the introduction of mass modern processes.
Another interesting aspect of the technological innovation adoption by the government is its two-fold effect. On one hand, the common people will get better access to government officials; be able to better communicate their wants and needs to the public sector officials; hold government practices against more transparent accountable ideals; and get rid of unwieldy processes. On the other hand, another new paradigm will crack open. The government will get access to denser data regarding the common people, allowing them to expand their surveillance, and exert stronger control on how people communicate and interact with each other. Restrictions, banning operations, and penalties for ‘straying’ are just a few of the possible dystopian measures a pessimistically proactive government may take. To avoid this, newer policies towards data collection, handling and security will need to be designed and updated.
To tackle these questions and ensure that the empowering benefits of the digital revolution override its detrimental deeper effects, the policymakers of our country must think in a way that prioritizes the people and their convenience and build strategies that are in line with the rest of the world. The policy framework would need to ensure that power is decentralized, and sources are redistributed justly that strengthen public engagement. Technological advancements and implications of the Industry Revolution mean countries can no longer work in isolation. Decision-makers will need to work horizontally—not in vertical hierarchies—and closely collaborate with and work about the frameworks being adopted by the rest of the world. The policymakers cannot be lost in conventional methodical thinking. For this, it is important to involve the technical minds (the ever present IT) in decision-making processes as well, so all possible implications can be gauged and the capital required for these reforms be more efficiently allocated.
No doubt, digital transformation will help in economic growth, citizen prosperity, and make Pakistan an internationally competitive state. In any other country, the most important and foremost aspect before implementing such a solution would have been to take consent and opinions of the citizens and meanwhile assort the capacity to build such solutions. In Pakistan, the most important aspect would be first informing and educating the common people about the benefits and the associated (albeit not overpowering) possible drawbacks. The second most important aspect would be to build a legal and infrastructural framework to support this transformation. It is a long way before technology fully penetrates our administrative infrastructure, economic landscape, and social setups such as healthcare and education systems. However, as once concluded by the World Economic Forum, it is only with resilience and agility that any country may navigate through, adapt to, and expand its technological innovations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
