Punjab cabinet approves IT policy 2018

LAHORE: Punjab cabinet on Thursday approved the province’s first-ever information technology policy 2018, envisaging tax breaks, technology parks and financial inclusion to attract local and foreign investors.

Umar Saif, chairman of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) said the government is committed to use information and communication technology (ICT) as enabling tools to improve governance, efficiency, transparency and accountability.

“The policy document consolidates all initiatives taken in the sector and also sets a future roadmap that will take the province to its ultimate destination, which is making Punjab the hub of information technology,” Saif said, addressing an event.

The provincial government sought comments on the policy from all the stakeholders in the next two months.

The province leads other federating units in presenting the IT policy after the introduction of digital policy recently by the federal government.

The provincial IT policy focuses on five pillars, including support to the industry, bridging the digital divide, e-governance, citizen-centric services and entrepreneurship.

The policy aims to bridge the digital divide across gender, region and economic classes and achieve affordable digital access for all.

PITB chief said the new IT policy will encourage investments in IT, IT-enabled services and essential healthcare management industries, expand financial inclusion, increase incentives for ICT technologies, promote e-commerce, improve legal framework and develop human resource.

He said the IT policy 2018 will improve export receipts and envisage establishment of new IT parks. The provincial government has extensively used technology in improving efficiency and governance across several sectors.

Saif said the process of the policy formulation started one and half year back and during its formulation stage it was ensured that the process was inclusive, outward looking, joined-up and evidence based so that a well-rounded effective policy document could be produced.

“To maintain highest standards of input, several focus group discussions and individual consultation sessions were conducted along with rigorous in-house research,” he added. “More than 150 individuals from across all key sectors have provided inputs in this document.

The IT policy further proposed establishment of common resource and service centres and public Wi-Fi hotspots in remote areas and promotion of ease of access for women at the centres. It would give tax breaks to private sector’s investment in e-learning initiatives, including provision of content in regional languages.

The new special economic zones dedicated for IT are proposed to benefit from tax breaks and exemptions in export duties. The government planned to take measures to encourage establishment of hardware manufacturing industry.

The policy would empower citizens through online petitions platform to deal with social and other relevant issues and set up regional offices of PITB across the province. Government would impart trainings on emerging ideas such as internet of things and serve vulnerable groups of the society by providing them with affordable ICT resources.

Saif said the provincial government has already taken various steps to promote digital ecosystem.

It lets users pay stamp duty through e-stamping, collects other government receipts through online mediums, allows online registration of businesses under ease of doing business initiatives and gives tax exemptions to investors.