THESE days, our public representatives seem to be confronting challenges on unfamiliar frontiers. On Thursday, when urged by the National Assembly chair to embrace a paperless workflow, several MNAs complained that “slow internet” was preventing their transition to parliament’s newly introduced digital systems. The deputy Speaker reminded lawmakers that they had been provided with tablets specifically to phase out the use of paper for parliamentary business, yet the majority seemed uninterested in changing their habits. One MNA from a religious party claimed she had spent over an hour trying to download necessary documents without luck. Another offered a shrewder assessment: most lawmakers perhaps did not know how to use their devices. While some helpfully suggested setting up an IT help desk within the Assembly, others complained about dismal internet speeds across the country. The IT minister responded with a vague assurance involving a “recent spectrum auction”, which she said would strengthen the telecommunications infrastructure and improve connectivity and digital services delivery.

Such vacuous exchanges in the legislature do little to inspire confidence in Pakistan’s much-vaunted ‘technological revolution’. As it is, the state’s messaging has long been plagued by cognitive dissonance. Islamabad routinely celebrates the rapid proliferation of digital connectivity, yet simultaneously decries it as a national security risk; it implores the youth to master digital skills and seek online employment, yet it suffocates them with heavy taxes on internet services. Similarly, it promises an economy driven by digital transformation, while frequently throttling connectivity and enforcing censorship at an unprecedented scale. And lawmakers enthusiastically debate cryptocurrencies and virtual assets, even as conventional banking remains an inaccessible luxury for the masses. Like much else, our policies for information technology and the digital economy seem to have become a contradictory patchwork of competing priorities. Lawmakers, whose mandate is to legislate a coherent framework for the country’s digital future, need to look far beyond their own slow internet. Their biggest problem may be an inability to download a document in time; for freelancers and IT companies hoping to secure international contracts, the lack of stable connectivity can spell a major catastrophe. Unfortunately, it seems that Pakistan’s digital ambitions have drastically outpaced its parliament’s capacity. This is a sobering reality that should concern anyone wishing to see Pakistan compete in the modern global economy.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2026