What Is The Digital Economy
What Is The Digital Economy
What Is The Digital Economy
The speakers at the 14th symposium of the Aidrus then introduced the five strategic
Pakistan Academy of Engineering titled pillars which will form the basis of the new
‘Preparing for our digital economy’ also digital initiative:
identified areas for research and
underscored the need for transparency in 1. Access and Connectivity that
data. ensures every Pakistani has access
to the internet that is a fundamental
In his welcome address, Dr Engineer Jameel right that we need to make available
Ahmad spoke about the gaps in Pakistan’s universally and especially to
response to the use of emerging digital underserved populations.
technologies, regretting that Pakistan did 2. Digital Infrastructure that creates
not rank high in important global indices of the ability to do most daily tasks
cyber security and business-to-consumer e- using smart-phones in a secure and
commerce. faster manner.
3. E-Government that digitises intra-
“In order to digitise economy, the government operations and
government needs to support the processes towards a paperless and
components of its digital policy with efficient environment and also
appropriate allocation of resources,” he digitises government services for
said. citizens and businesses for better
delivery.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that with
4. Digital Skilling and Literacy that
the introduction of the 'Digital Pakistan enables our tech graduates to
Vision', the full potential of the secure relevant jobs. A majority of
contribution of youth and the women to our tech graduates today cannot
the economy will be unleashed. compete globally because our
curriculum is outdated and barring
He said that the introduction of e-
them from monetising those skills.
governance will be essential in combatting
5. Innovation and
"the endemic of corruption which started Entrepreneurship that provides an
out at the top but with their flight to foreign enabling environment for startups
countries has now settled down in the to flourish.
lower tiers of society".
A country’s progress in digital
The tech consultant also said that Pakistan
transformation is measured using the
has more than 70 million internet users and
Information and Communication
local tech talent as well as diaspora which
Technology (ICT) framework.
has been forming tech companies for a
Broadband connectivity is a basic demands on speed, efficiency and
requirement for the digital economy and processing power. Big data and IOT will
networked society. Once that has been create huge amounts of data to be stored,
achieved, we need to look beyond processed and analysed. Pakistan must
broadband and work on the other four invest in fully secure, reliable and efficient
enablers: data centres, cloud services, big data centres if it is to digitalise its economy.
data and internet of things (IOT). Cloud services are also key enablers and are
As the foundation of the modern economy, fast becoming a mainstream model for
broadband is delivered on fibre optic building and deploying IT systems. In
Pakistan, they are essential, as most players
landlines and 3G (or newer) cellular
that are small- and medium-sized
networks; we must develop a national
enterprises cannot afford to build their own
policy and have a national broadband plan,
data centres.
which articulates a download and upload
speed for a targeted number of users. In IOT is not just a buzzword; it is one of the
addition to speed and access, price also most fertile areas for enabling digital
plays a crucial part. The average download transformation. IOT in Pakistan is in its
speed varies. Karachi leads with 3 Mbps, infancy. An example is a small power device
with Islamabad and Lahore at 1.8 Mbps. In which not only informs the amount of
terms of pricing, we are more expensive energy being consumed by each device in
than our regional partners. The your home, but in addition, using big data,
also advises how to more effectively save
comparative prices per 10 Mbps are:
energy and reduce your power bill. As
Pakistan Rs2,005, India Rs1,200 and
Pakistan is in the very early stages of big
Bangladesh Rs2,301. In terms of data usage, IOT will take time.
connectivity, Pakistan’s position is
improving. The number of smartphone The government needs to create a plan for
users is estimated at 40 million, expected to a Digital Pakistan similar to the national
grow to 80m by 2020 according to the financial inclusion strategy. The benefits of
Groupe Speciale Mobile Association. a digital economy are not limited to
However, the increase in smartphones will financial inclusion. They impact practically
not achieve the desired effect unless taxes every sector of the economy: e-health, e-
education, and e-agriculture are only a few
on data are materially reduced or
of them.
eliminated and import duties on
smartphones under Rs10,000 are
eliminated.
one of China’s leading internet operators,
Without big data optimisation of economic Alibaba Cloud, has been constructing 10
information, digitalisation becomes even industrial internet platforms for various
more challenging. No longer just a place for industry sectors, including textiles, clothing,
hosting IT equipment, data centres form a
food and beverage, processing, home
key part of the infrastructure for enabling
digital transformation and satisfying
appliances, electronics, and textile printing Growth is being accelerated by other major
and dyeing. investments in power and connectivity
infrastructure, technology and digital
Pakistan carried out six reforms that helped
infrastructure. Ant Financial Services,
improving its ranking from 136 to 108,
China’s biggest online payment service
according to the WB's annual flagship
provider, recently bought a 45% stake in
report, 'Ease of Doing Business 2020',
Telenor Microfinance Bank, in a deal that
released on Thursday. It turned out to be
valued the Pakistani bank at $410 million.
the sixth global reformer and first in South
Asia that brought ease in doing business in Irfan Wahab, chief executive of Telenor
the last one year. Pakistan, called the deal a “game changer”;
while Eric Jing, chief executive of Ant
he global map is being altered at a much Financial, said it would provide “inclusive
faster rate than anticipated due to the financial services in a transparent, safe, low-
disruption created by digital infrastructure, cost and efficient way to a largely unbanked
artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and underbanked population in Pakistan”.
and blockchain. Further digital and
technological disruption is now set to mend Pakistan was ranked 110 among 141
fractures in society – leading to improved countries on the World Economic Forum
living conditions and enhanced economic (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)
empowerment. for 2019.
This disruption has given new life to e- It has been observed that populations in
commerce and the start-up scene in BRI countries with large digital and
countries. In light of the Global technological divides are fast adopters of
Competitiveness Index 4.0, it is extremely technology. China is at the forefront of
important that economies grow in all areas, developing future technologies – artificial
overcoming challenges and making intelligence, robotics, cyber and space
investment in human capital and technologies – making it a promising
innovation. Resilience and agility are key.
partner for countries along the BRI.
akistan, which is emerging from many years Fourth industrial revolution are on the way.
of the war on terror, is now on a decent
For instance, one of the projects that is
path to progress, with economic growth of
part of CPEC is the laying of 820 kilometres
5.8% and improved investor confidence. At
of fibre-optic cable, that will connect more
the World Economic Forum in 2017, Ebay’s
Pakistanis to the digital world.
chief executive, Devin Wenig, highlighted
Pakistan as one of the fastest growing e- The impact on the economy can also be
commerce markets in the world. In 2018, significant. According to the Small and
Alibaba bought Pakistan’s largest e- Medium Enterprises (SMEs) development
commerce platform, Daraz.pk. authority, about 90 per cent of businesses
in Pakistan are SMEs that have a 40 per
cent share in the country annual gross per capita. With this indica-tor, the world
domestic product. Developments in the can be divided into three groups of
digital sector can help SMEs reach more countries – exemplarily and roughly
consumers and achieve growth. simplified – (see figure 2).
A security concern
The existing fibre optic network through 1 Western industrial economies
which Pakistan connects to the world has If we look at the current situation of GDP
been developed by a consortium that has per capita, the western industrialized
Indian companies either as partners or countries have the highest per capita
shareholders. income.
If these countries succeed in
This is viewed as a security concern e.g. promoting the use of digital technologies,
when it comes to surveillance of they will become even more competitive.
communication. As recently as January this The result will be a further increase in GDP
year, Director General Special per capita. This includes the U.S. in
Communications Organisation (SCO) Maj particular.
Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa informed the Those industrialized countries
National Assembly Standing Committee on that fail the digital transformation are
Information Technology that some losing competitiveness. This applies to
incoming and outbound internet traffic economically weak countries that are also
landed in India before being routed to its heavily indebted, such as Greece and
destinations, posing a security risk for possibly Italy. Ageing societies can also fall
Pakistan. into this group of countries because the
innovative power and productivity of an
ageing society tends to be lower.