LAHORE: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement an e-filing and office automation system (e-FOAS) for the national flag carrier.

The initiative allows departmental workflow automation, receipt and issuance management, e-noting and e-letter management using digital signatures, electronic record room, and meeting scheduler. The system ensures efficiency, transparency and security while reducing administrative costs.

The MoU was signed by PITB Chairman Azfar Manzoor and PIA CEO retired Air Marshal Arshad Malik in a ceremony held at Arfa Software Technology Park here on Wednesday.

“E-FOAS will help in improving organisational efficiency through digitization of workflows leading to better communication and informed decision-making,” said the PIA chief.

The PITB chairman said: “e-FOAS is playing a vital role in performance improvement through digitisation of work processes for both the public sector and semi-government organizations. It aims at strengthening the organisations by supporting prompt internal and external communication, eliminating ambiguities and miscommunication ensuring smoother workflows and greater transparency.”

The PITB has also developed e-FOAS applications to access files on the go helping the management to stay connected and interactive in workflow processes. The integrated SMS and email gateways facilitate the users to send alerts and notifications instantly.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2021