Use of IT must to inform young generation about modern learning, research trends: President

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Tuesday said that focus on Information Technology for stability of national economy was a must and use of IT was need of the hour to inform the young generation about modern learning and research trends.

The President stated this while speaking at Pakistan
Mobile App Awards 2016 ceremony for persons with disability
here at Pakistan National Council of the Arts. The ceremony
was organized by Ministry for IT.
Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha
Rehman Khan and Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
Dr. Syed Ismail Shah also spoke on the occasion.
The President said the government took many initiatives
for development of information technology in Pakistan,adding
that funds have been provided for initiation of different
projects regarding 3G and broadband services which were
benefiting distant areas of the country.
These steps, he said, would be helpful for the overall
growth of the sector and would facilitate the common man.
President said IT Parks, Youth Training institutions and
other relevant initiatives have added a plus in recent
development of Information Technology.
For the purpose, he said that IT Education has been
declared mandatory in initial schooling. Moreover, initiating
training programmers in various technical areas was also an
encouraging factor.
Similarly, he said delivering laptops and providing
scholarships was a crucial step towards equipping our youth
with modern education.
The President said the government and IT Ministry were
utilizing all resources to provide best facilities to the
disabled persons, adding that disabled persons were part of
society and serving them was our moral responsibility.
The President said these mobile applications had been
prepared by the IT experts which could provide relief to the
people with disability of speaking, hearing, seeing and other
problems in their lives.
The President said that 15 percent of the world
population consists of those people who were considered as
disabled persons due to any problem.
The President said Pakistan was a land of talented
people but this talent was not being used in a proper way.
Minister of State for Information Technology Ms. Anusha
Rahman Ahmad Khan said mobile application award would go a
long way in developing a strong relationship between the
academia, industry and the relevant government organizations
and would turn out to be exemplary for the rest of the sectors
of our economy.
These mobile applications, she said would enable special
persons to live close to a normal people with the help of
mobile phones and would enable them to work and communicate
with other people for daily affairs.
While appreciating the winners of the competition, she
assured of the effective utilization of these applications by
the related organization.
The Minister said that seven IT schools were being set
up for girls in rural areas of the federal capital.
Later, the President presented awards to the winners of
the competition.
The awards were given with cash prize of Rs. 300,000. to
1st position holder Dr. Abdul Ghafar and his team for
developing the app Smart Devices.
Second position was won by Ms. Sumayya Munir with cash
prize of Rs. 200,000 for developing the Tell Me app. Whereas
3rd position with cash prize of Rs 100,000 was won by Hatham
Nasar and his team for developing app Rollout.
Chairman PTA Dr. Syed Ismail Shah said that Pakistan was
already an exemplary model of regulatory and commercial
success in the ICT arena.
He said telecom services were accessible to over 86% of
the population while 71 out of 100 people were already among
the subscribers of telecom operators.
The introduction of mobile broadband services has also
opened new arrays of ICT innovation, digital content delivery,
entertainment and economic opportunities for the people of
Pakistan, he added.
CEO Telenor Irfan Wahab Khan also spoke on the occasion.

APP/Zaheer/VNS, Islamabad