Engineering Post Report
The turbulent global economic conditions around the globe are making many countries to re-prioritize their policies afresh more aggressively towards technology adoption and innovation for improving productivity and living standards of their people.
New and emerging technologies such as 5G, Industrial Internet of Things(IIOT) and Artificial Intelligence AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are at the forefront of this new trend commonly known as 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). The rising trend in availability of venture capital is providing a boost in adoption of technology and innovation.
In this backdrop, according to the official sources concerned, Pakistan also needs to improve its productivity growth and consequently living standards of its people through harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) innovations for creation of national wealth.
According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, the sources said, Pakistan still ranks very low at 110 even when compared to emerging and regional economies e.g. UAE 25, Malaysia, 27, India 68, South Africa 60 Turkey 61, Brazil 71, Sri Lanka 84 and Bangladesh 105.
In spite of having a fairly good skill set of graduates (rank 49) and a vibrant entrepreneurial culture (rank 59), Pakistan still needs to push very strongly on “Adoption of ICT” (rank 131 out of 141) through provision of content on internet in local languages and faster mobile broadband services throughout the country.
The sources further pointed out that challenges of governance across various sectors impede development and public service delivery. In order to address multifarious challenges, intervention through widespread adoption of technology is a promising approach. As such , Digital Pakistan Initiative launched recently would help in laying a strong foundation in public service delivery.
Additionally, Pakistan also needs to improve upon its connectivity infrastructure, especially broadband access, as well as make concerted efforts in talent adaptability to spur development of innovative products and services using ICTs, thus enabling inclusiveness of all segments of the society, they added.
