ISLAMABAD – The government plans to establish an indigenous facility fordevelopment of satellites in accordance with international space standardsunder its annual development plan for 2018-19.
The facility – Pakistan Space Centre will have capability to carry outmanufacturing, testing, system level assembly, integration, launch andoperations of various types of satellites.
As per Information & Communication Technology Annual Plan 2018-19, majorthrust for 2018-19 includes that Pakistan Multi-Mission Satellite(PakSat-MM1) will cater to demand of Direct-To-Home (DTH), High-ThroughputServices (HTS)/Broadband Internet and Strategic SatCom.
The PC-II has already been approved and during next year, PC-I will besubmitted for approval and subsequent execution of the project.
Moreover, feasibility study of Pakistan’s 2nd Optical Remote SensingSatellite (PRSS-O2) will be completed. PRSS-O2 aims to launch a sub-meterresolution remote sensing satellite.
Feasibility and System Definition Study (FSDS) of Pakistan NavigationSatellite System (PakNav) will also be carried out. PakNav will enablePakistan to have independent satellite navigation for both civilian andstrategic purposes. The government would focus on competing ininternational arena, and accelerating pace of e-government to facilitatecitizensto avail public services.
The document said Rs. 6,535 million have been earmarked for ICT sectorunder Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19 which is aimed atimproving capacity of IT industry by further providing infrastructure andfacilities for startups and small IT businesses.
The other objective of allocation in ICT sector is to increase quality ofskills and capacity of organizations to consistently deliver high qualityservices and products and raising their standard.
The other thrust include Cross-Border OFC system between China and Pakistanfor international connectivity of voice and data traffic under aegis ofChina Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which will enable alternative routefor international internet connectivity.
Development of Technology Parks to facilitate rapidly growingentrepreneurial ecosystem in the country, participation in 15 majorinternational exhibitions to generate export business and training of 3,500professional and 500 executives from IT & ITeS industry in latesttechnologies in demand and business development/international marketingrespectively would also be focused.
Some other domains include 70 more companies will be provided consultancyto attain certification of CMMI level-2, CMMI level-3, CMMI level-5 and ISO27,001/ 20,000 international standards through Ministry of InformationTechnology’s project entitled “Enhancing IT Exports through IndustrySupport Programmes,” and placement of 3,000 ICT graduates in public andprivate sector organizations under Prime Minister’s ICT InternshipProgramme.
Technical Training Institute will be established in Gilgit-Baltistan,expanding internet and broadband services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K)and Gilgit-Baltistan, and establishment of Quality Assurance Lab forsoftware products in
Pakistan Software Export board (PSEB) are the other areas which would befocused during next fiscal year. Highlighting the prospects for 2018-19,the ADP further revealed that there is a tremendous opportunity forPakistan as its ICT sector is now at take-off stage. The IT & ITES-BusinessProcess Outsourcing (BPO) exports are estimated to have already crossed US$ 3 billion this year.
With right impetus, the ICT sector can become driver of change and growthin the next few years. Therefore, continuous focus is essentially requiredon software development, software and IT workforce export, in-countryemployment opportunities, e-governance for an effective service delivery,m-governance and smart monitoring, technology incubators and support forentrepreneurs.
This continuous focus would, thus, set a high growth conditions in theyears to come.
Launching of strategic initiatives along with tax holiday and capitalrepatriation incentives for private sector is expected to make Pakistan anoutsourcing destination in region by 2020, and increase IT & ITES exportsto exceed US$ 5 billion.
Furthermore, as CPEC programme progresses, it is expected that next decadewill bring in more opportunities of innovation, growth and transforming thecountry into a regional hub of trade and commerce.
The expanding ICT accessibility to remote and under-developed parts of thecountry will also help in achieving social inclusiveness, opening newvistas and source of employment in the country.
Improvement in national ICT infrastructure with linkages at multiple pointswith regional and international systems will make the country an importanttransit route for international trade and services, acceleratingentrepreneurship.
Automation of government processes, fin-tech, agri-tech, edu-tech, healthinformatics and social innovation are some of the areas which hold apotential of high growth and transforming quality of life for the citizens.APP