Dear Tania Aidrus
Salam
The people of Pakistan live in a stone age of digital services. Thus your assuming this task is a huge source of hope and expectations. Kindly look at the following four issues as some of your first concerns for action.
1. Some 4 million Pakistanis make 2 to 3 visits to different banks and offices to pay their vehicle tax every year. This could be done by sitting at home and using one of the half a dozen or so phone money transfer services available in Pakistan. This does not require any new inventions. The world has been doing this for the last 30 years. What makes Pakistan and the ‘Digital Pakistan’ not adopt this in a matter of weeks.
2. Some 7 million Pakistani, mostly senior citizens stand in a queue before various National saving Centres to beg for the interest on their own investments. Why can everyone’s profit not AUTOMATICALLY be transferred to the individual bank accounts and everyone simply receive an auto SMS for the amount transferred. No citizens should need to make these torturous visits to the NSCs. Again , this involves no new science and can be done in a matter of weeks. Auto bank transfer services have been known to humankind for at least last 40 years.
3. Sixty percent of Pakistani children are not registered and have no birth certificate. The government has no idea of the presence or absence of sixty percent of its kids. What great digital science is needed to create mechanisms for recording each and every birth of a child.
4. Almost 100 percent of Pakistan’s bureaucracy cannot or does not respond if you send them an e mail. Govt Websites either do not give email address of its officials or these addresses are completely non-functional. You have the honour of becoming one more such bureaucrat, as you also do not respond to your e mails. Please do.
The ordinary people of Pakistan are least interested in a talk about a grand digital strategy or five fantastic pillars of digital policy. They are simply interested in the digital services that the state provides, that could make their lives less torturous.
Regards and look forward to hearing from you.