PAKISTAN is progressing towards digital transformation, but at a snail’s pace. Many departments and organisations are still stuck in their obsolete practices. Take, for instance, the example of the Virtual University (VU) which asks exam superintendent applicants to print copies of an online form, get them attested and send them over.

Similarly, the National Information Technology Board (NITB) has conveniently left out the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoITT) from the list of Level 1 for raising a complaint at the Citizen’s Portal. Besides, the Smart Pakistan app is launched with a dysfunctional interface for user registration. Likewise, lodging a complaint with the office of the Banking Ombudsman requires a lot of physical effort and paper work that can be avoided through electronic channels.

Pakistan needs pragmatic, agile and customer-focussed approach. Moreover, it needs an overhaul of organisational culture and processes to accelerate the pace of digital transformation and e-governance.

Jawwad Zaki
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2022