16th meeting of KPITB finalizes digital transformation policy
PESHAWAR (APP): The 16th board meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB) was held here at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair.
In a significant step towards digital transformation in the province, the meeting has finalized the Digital Transformation Policy and Roadmap 2030, which will be presented for formal approval at the next provincial cabinet meeting.
This comprehensive policy encompasses various key domains, including digital governance, skills development, cyber resilience, emerging technologies, fintech, and digital payments, digital platform infrastructure, climate tech,startup and innovation ecosystem.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Additional Chief Secretaries, IT Department officials, and other board members.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of decisions made in previous meetings, actions taken under the digital policy, and future course of action.
It was briefed in the meeting that over 60 projects have been launched under the KPITB to improve service delivery in the province. Flagship initiatives include the Public Service Delivery Portal (Dastak), Digital Revenue Collection Platform, Digital FinTech Platform (Pamir), Digital Stamp Duty, Motor Vehicle Registration System, and Carbon Credit Portal.
The meeting also highlighted the key achievements under digital payment platform, which has processed over 1 million transactions for arms licenses, resulting in payments exceeding Rs. 89 crore. Similarly, the Excise Department has collected over Rs. 12 crore through this platform.
Additionally, 6,058 new vehicle registrations have been processed, generating over Rs. 6 crore in revenue. Other achievements include the collection of Rs. 5 crore in token tax, Rs. 57 lakh in transfers, and Rs. 28 lakh in other matters.
It was informed that a unified digital platform for revenue collection, tax, and fine collection has been established, providing a single platform for all services. Additionally, the Carbon Credit Portal will provide details of all carbon deposits and related services on a single platform.
The KPITB has spent a total of Rs. 206 million on these initiatives, with an estimated return amount of Rs. 1.8 billion.
Similarly, the KPITB has made significant progress in digital skills development, with 13,800 youth trained in graphic design, web development, digital marketing, and animation over the past few years, with 37% employment in the respective fields. Furthermore, 2,500 youth have been trained in cloud computing and data engineering, with 49% securing employment.
Under the ongoing initiatives, additional 27,000 youth are being trained in various fields, including e-commerce, IT governance, mobile development, social media marketing, computer networking, and cyber security, the authorities told and added that over 7,000 youth from merged districts will also be imparted with training in various fields, while the Digital Economy and Skills Center in Mardan will provide training to over 4,000 youth.
They further informed that Digital Internship Program has also provided internships to 23 youth at the China Accelerator, while over 2,000 youth have received internships at IT Park companies, with 67% of them now employed.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has also developed the “Khyber Pass” digital identity platform, which will provide digital and transportable electronic IDs. The platform will offer online facilities for all citizen services, from birth registration to death certificates, making it a complete paperless system.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has directed the acceleration of digitization process in the provincial government departments and said that it was the policy and priority of his government to enhance the capacity of government departments and improve transparency, good governance, and service delivery across the sectors. He directed the quarters concerned to immediately complete the remaining work of Digital City Haripur and initiate work the project for establishing IT Park in Peshawar.
He termed this development as a testament to the KPITB’s commitment to driving digital growth and empowering the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that the KPITB is playing a pivotal role in shaping the province’s digital future.
