Tag: IT ministry

  • IT ministry demands Rs20 billion to improve country’s cybersecurity, social media

    IT ministry demands Rs20 billion to improve country’s cybersecurity, social media

    The federal government has sought Rs20 billion for the next fiscal year to improve the country’s cybersecurity and manage social media. According to the proposal, the government will only allow social media platforms to operate if they establish local offices.

    The Ministry of Information Technology has demanded Rs20 billion for the Digital Information Infrastructure Initiative (DIII) in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget, according to government sources who spoke to The Express Tribune.

    The Express Tribune requested comments from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Technology, but they did not respond. Government sources also revealed that Rs15 billion has already been allocated as a technical supplementary grant to the information technology ministry for the current fiscal year.

    However, the total cost of the DIII project, which is equipped with Chinese technology, is Rs38 billion. The government is spending a significant amount this year, and the remaining amount has been requested for the next fiscal year.

  • IT minister announces new launch date for 5G

    IT minister announces new launch date for 5G

    The government is expected to introduce 5G in July 2023 instead of next month.

    Syed Amin ul Haq, the minister of information technology and telecommunications, said that the effort would help further expand the IT industry and its export at an exponential rate while announcing the new date.

    Speaking at a ceremony for the UBIT Career Fest 2022, which was put on by the University of Karachi’s Department of Computer Science, the minister expressed confidence that the new deadline for the introduction of 5G technology would be met without further delay.

    “Our IT industry has already witnessed robust growth,” he said. “As compared to the other 43 ministries of Pakistan, the highest increase in exports has been registered by the IT and telecommunication sector. The exports of other ministries increased by 2 to 3 per cent only over the last couple of years while the exports of IT and telecom jumped by 47.44 per cent during the same period. “It reflects the potential which we need to capitalise on,” the minister remarked.

    The young IT graduates can seize the expanding opportunities being offered by the IT companies amid huge funding of $373 million from the government for the startups, he claimed, demonstrating that future job needs can be met with the cooperation of industry and universities.