In the beginning, Islamabad, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan will each have one Smart Village.
Through the Universal Service Fund (USF), the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MOIT&T) has begun a “Smart Village” project in four provinces, including Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The International Telecommunication Union and Huawei Technologies Pakistan will fund and provide technical support for the project. The initiative would establish a centre in a backward hamlet with contemporary facilities to instruct local residents in how to use them and urge them to incorporate them into their daily lives.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque, inaugurated the ceremony with Federal Secretary for IT and Telecommunication, Muhammad Sohail Rajput, CEO USF, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, Area Representative for Southeast Asia International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Ismail Shah, CEO Huawei, Mark Meng, on Wednesday.
“The Smart Village project is another step towards realising Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of a Digital Pakistan,” Haque remarked. MOIT&T, in collaboration with ITU and Huawei, is working to digitally transform distant and rural communities by connecting and empowering people with improved access to a variety of digital services in the areas of health, education, commerce, and livelihood. To increase cost-effectiveness and sharing of resources and expertise in delivering services to residents, the project emphasises a whole-of-government approach and fosters cross-sector collaboration and multi-stakeholder participation.
Federal Minister said that National Information Technology Board (NITB) launched more than 30 mobile applications, government web portals, and websites related to public services.
The general public can only profit from these applications if they have access to them. The results of the efforts taken under the Digital Pakistan Vision, he said, are now starting to appear. We’ve begun work on the first E-cabinet, which will focus on E-Parliament, E-Office, and Internet Voting.
The Federal Minister praised the USF, ITU, and Huawei teams and pledged his support for the project’s implementation. He also stated that the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications will continue to pursue more ambitious and fruitful programmes in the future to promote IT and Telecommunications-related services.
“The Smart Village project is aligned with USF’s aim to empower the unserved and unserved communities,” stated USF CEO Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary at the ceremony. This collaboration will allow USF, ITU, and Huawei to work together to achieve their goals.
Source: propakistani.pk
