ISLAMABAD: Directing the auth­orities concerned to complete the di­­gitalisation of parliament within the given time frame, President Dr Arif Alvi said on Monday that it would provide latest tools for access to files and official data.

He underlined the need for incorporating information technology into the business of state entities, like the National Assembly and Senate, to im­­p­­rove the efficiency, transparency and responsiveness of the government.

He made these remarks while chai­r­ing a meeting on the President’s Ini­tiative for Cyber-Efficient Parliament (PICEP) at the Presidency.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Deputy Chairman Mirza Moh­ammad Afridi, Secretary of the Min­is­try of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Abdul Aziz Uqaili, Secretary of the Ministry of IT & Telecom Dr Sohail Rajput, Secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat Tahir Hussain and senior government officials attended the meeting.

The Ministry of IT and Telecom gave a presentation on the implementation status of the PICEP.

The meeting discussed technical details of the project and emphasised the need for expeditiously executing it for speedy disposal of the parliamentary business.

Speaking on the occasion, the president highlighted the importance of digitalisation of parliament and said it would improve the process of planning and provide members of parliament an easy access to data and files through the latest tools and techniques. He reiterated that the government was committed to transforming the country into Digital Pakistan by tra­nsforming all ministries into digital­ly-empowered public organisations to improve governance and service delivery.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022