IT can alleviate poverty, transform society and economy

Lahore: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said information technology can help alleviate poverty and transform our society and economy.

Pakistan can accelerate economic growth to get rid of many problems by improving its talent pool with the help of technology, it said.

The incoming government should initiate expanded online learning programmes to better serve students and extend the benefits of education to tens of thousands of others, said Dr Murtaza Mughal, President of the PEW.

He said that our policymakers must understand how crucial technology will be for the future of Pakistan as it can change life of millions.

Adopting the latest technologies altered to the needs of local people and organizations can help country to become developed nation as we have many shining examples of this phenomenon, he said.

Dr Murtaza Mughal said that government and businesses can make use of the new light-weight but powerful technologies to reinvent themselves as out-of-date computing systems are costly and rigid.

He said that cloud computing technologies can be tapped to provide education, interactive learning and interaction with professors over a smartphone or economical personal computer.

Similarly, majority of women entrepreneurs who generally lack access to customers can market their goods anywhere in the world by using technology.

Companies can engage with their employees via social networking to communicate strategies, get feedback and provide up-to-the-minute training, he added.

Data analytics can help learn and make better decisions, mobile and cloud computing can give access to insights anytime and anywhere, and social business technologies can help connect and collaborate in ways that were not possible before.

Roadside video cameras can be employed to gather real-time data to help relieve traffic congestion in cities while registered drivers can get SMS alerts regarding problems ahead.

Technology can make it possible for companies to operate more efficiently to rapidly build businesses while it can help government to better serve their citizens to enjoy the satisfaction that success will bring.