ISLAMABAD: The government tabled in the National Assembly on Monday a bill aimed at streamlining the digitisation of bureaucracy and creating a “dynamic digital society”.

The bill titled, ‘Digital Nation Pakistan Act, 2024’, was presented in the lower house of parliament by Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

The draft will now go to the Standing Committee on IT and Telecom for further deliberation.

Dawn earlier reported that the bill was aimed at creating a digital identity for citizens and centralising social, economic, and governance data to improve access to government services.

The bill submitted to the Natio­nal Assembly said it would “provide for the transformation of Pak­­­istan into a digital nation, en­­a­­­bling digital society, digital eco­nomy, and digital governance”.

The bill laid out plans to form three new bodies — the National Digital Commission (NDC), Strategic Oversight Committee (SOC) and Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA).

The NDC will be chaired by the prime minister and comprise the chief ministers of four provinces, federal ministers for IT and telecommunication, planning and development, finance, commerce, interior and economic affairs, chairpersons of the FBR, Nadra, Pakistan Telecommuni­ca­tions Authority, Pakistan Digital Authority and Securities and Ex­­change Commission of Pakistan, and the State Bank governor.

The apex body will “approve the national digital master plan and its implementation plans”, provide directives to the PDA and coordinate with federal and provincial entities to “ensure a unified and collaborative appro­ach to digital transformation”.

It will also address jurisdiction issues and ensure compliance with the master plan for digital transformation.

The PDA, comprising a chairperson and two members, will “develop, implement, monitor” the national digital master plan.

The authority will also establish a monitoring and evaluation framework for digital transformation projects and programmes and update the commission on the plan’s progress.

The authority would be empowered to take action, serve notice to any public entity that fails to comply with its directives, and demand corrective measures. In case of persistent non-compliance, the body would report the matter to the NDC.

The SOC will be headed by the IT and telecommunication minister, with secretaries of IT, finance and planning, representative of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, and four representatives from the private sector as its members.

The committee would monitor the PDA’s performance and provide an independent review to the apex commission, ensuring alignment with the National Digital Masterplan.

The master plan would be fra­m­­­ed after the enactment of the bill for a “comprehensive strate­­gy for aligning and optimising di­­gital initiatives, eliminating re­­d­undancies across federal, provincial, and local levels, and driving economic growth through enh­­anced public service delivery”.

The master plan would outline specific projects, required reso­urces, timelines, and risk management strategies to ensure its effective execution.

Streamline coordination

While talking to Dawn, Ms Khawaja, the IT minister, said the new legislation was essential to have all relevant stakeholders, including the provinces, on one platform to implement the national digitisation agenda.

“Currently, there is no centralised body to oversee the digitisation efforts, and the three entities to be established under the bill will ensure that digitisation plans are implemented in all spheres, including the state functionaries and the citizens,” Ms Khawaja added.

A senior official of the IT ministry told Dawn that the main issue with digitisation was the lack of coordination among various federal and provincial departments.

“The telecom sector and the banks utilise links with Nadra to inquire about the customer, but government departments still rely upon photocopies and files,” the official added.

“The functions of NDC are al­­r­eady under the IT ministry, but neither the federal nor provincial departments take the ministry’s directives seriously,” he said while stressing the need for an apex NDC headed by the prime minister.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2024