K-P governor pushes for IT expansion

PESHAWAR BUREAU —Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday called for expanding the province's access to federal government IT training programmes so that young people can acquire modern digital skills and achieve economic independence. Chairing a high-level meeting at Governor House jointly with Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the governor stressed that equipping youth and women with contemporary IT skills was essential for securing online employment and building financial self-reliance.

The meeting was attended by Adviser to the K-P government on Science and Information Technology Usman Saifullah, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam Irfan, Secretary Science and Information Technology Nisar Ahmad, and senior federal and provincial officials. Participants reviewed the Digital Master Plan and the National Digital Commission.

A detailed briefing was given on Digital Nation Pakistan and the National Digital Master Plan. Officials noted that all four provinces are represented on the National Digital Commission. Under various federal initiatives, 500 digital platforms are currently operational across the country, of which 150 are functioning in K-P.

Governor Kundi said special initiatives would be launched for the province's youth with federal support. He directed the provincial IT department to maintain close coordination with the federal Ministry of IT and Telecommunication. Appreciating the progress already made by the K-P Information Technology Board in the digitalisation drive, he said the province aimed to establish more IT parks with federal assistance.

These parks, he added, would provide modern training facilities, with particular focus on creating opportunities for women. Empowering young people and aligning their skills with the demands of the modern economy remained a core priority of the provincial government, the governor stated. He observed that K-P had travelled a long road from an era dominated by terrorism to one focused on tourism and positive image-building.

Expanding digital skills and online employment opportunities formed an important part of that transformation. Federal Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja assured the provincial leadership of full cooperation in overcoming challenges faced by the IT sector in K-P. She informed the meeting that 800,000 young people in the province had already received training under the Digital Skills Programme.

Further initiatives would be rolled out, she said, to empower youth and women so they could earn livelihoods through online work while remaining at home. Both sides agreed that sustained collaboration between the federal and provincial governments was necessary to accelerate digital transformation, expand training capacity and open new avenues of economic opportunity for the young population of K-P.