Fareed Ahmad

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)

Information Technology has catalyzed change across the globe. For developing countries like Pakistan, IT can become the perfect springboard to leap into the future Punjab IT Board was established in 1999 precisely for this purpose to take on the challenge of reforming service delivery through the use of ICT in the most populous province of the country. PITB has since then played a critical role in collaborating with client departments to develop and deploy a range of state-of-the-art, customized ICT solutions aimed at: • Citizen facilitation through digitization & smart service delivery • Automation of government processes • Improving the ease of doing business (EODB) • Promoting knowledge economy, job creation and human capital development • Digitization of the financial ecosystem • Reforming Education, Health, Agriculture and Law & Order sectors PITB's efforts cut across a diverse platter of administrative departments especially those concerned with public service delivery. The key themes common to all PITB initiatives have been efficient public service delivery, transparency and accountability. With increased IT enablement in core government functions, the Punjab Government is rapidly moving towards one-stop shops. e-Khidmat Marakaz and one-window service centre for industries (OWSC) are examples of aggregation of multiple citizen-centric services under one roof ensuring great convenience for citizens. e-Pay platform is another example where so far more than 21 levies/taxes have been completely digitized allowing citizens the flexibility to pay these online. COVID spawned a global health crisisIt also presented a unique opportunity to the governments to shift from conventional service delivery models to innovative, web-centric services. PITB rose to the occasion to launch multiple initiatives aimed at minimizing social contact by digitizing service delivery in several governance domains.