[Pakistan] Poor infrastructure, lack of investment and government patronage

["Irfan Khan" <khania2@super.net.pk>]

Poor infrastructure, lack of investment and government patronage 
'Pakistan nowhere on world IT scene'

By Wajid Ali Syed

LAHORE: Kamil Hassan, country manager for Intel-Pakistan, finds the 
IT tradition here odd. "Students are asked to compete in a world 
increasingly dominated by information technology," he says. "Yet, the 
education system has failed to integrate computers into everyday 
teaching."

Speaking to Daily Times an hour ahead of presiding over a certificate 
distribution ceremony on Friday, Mr Hassan said Pakistan would not be 
able to compete in the world IT market because it lacks basic 
infrastructure, much-needed investment from the private sector and 
solid government support. "We are buying and working with outmoded 
models, old systems," he said. "This is no way to meet the challenges 
posed by a market that advances every six months."

Mr Hassan said Intel introduced a programme, Teach to the Future, 
last October in more than thirteen cities across the country. "Intel 
has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of 
Science and Technology to train over 13,000 teachers by end-2002," he 
said, adding that in a mere six months 1,200 teachers had graduated 
from the programme. Intel, he said, is working closely with the 
Education ministry to incorporate technology into teaching.

The teacher's qualification certificates are endorsed at the 
provincial level by the Education ministry. "Education is a critical 
area of focus for Intel. Science and mathematics drive new 
technologies and new technologies drive much of our global economic 
growth," he said. "In the new economy, the majority of jobs are 
knowledge-based. As a high-tech manufacturer and employer, it is 
important for Intel to employ persons who can design next generation 
products and consumers who are comfortable using those products," he 
maintained.

Answering a question regarding the competition generated by AMD, Mr 
Hassan said it was the mission of Intel to stay on top. "Intel 
considers four major things: client platform, network infrastructure, 
server platform and solutions and services." He said Intel not only 
faces competition in the microprocessor arena but also in networking, 
communication, and server and solution space. 

"But when it comes to compete with AMD its not that serious," he 
said. "We have a solid product line and we haven't lost any of our 
market share in past years. In fact, we are very optimistic about 
increasing our future market share."

Over the last three years, there has been tremendous growth in the 
Pakistani computer industry. One reason for this is that the 
government started planning and creating a network, which ultimately 
appeared in the shape of an IT policy, Mr Hassan said, adding that 
Science and Technology minister Dr Atta-ur-Rehman deserved credit for 
promoting IT. "His efforts alone have helped Intel establish Internet 
kiosks at airports and such places," he said. Islamabad airport has 
12, Karachi 22, Lahore 10, and Peshawar airport 6 kiosks. Mr Hassan 
said each kiosk has a Pentium-III and a Celeron computer with a 56K 
bandwidth. 

Mr Hassan said his company intends to start an educational programme 
in Azad Jammu and Kashmir starting the first week of October. A new 
project in association with ISO-certified software houses would also 
be introduced by the end of this year. 

These software houses shall be trained to work at the international 
level, he said, in order to compete with the formidable Indian IT 
market. "IT must be given industry status," he said. "And the 
government should play more than just regulator and policy maker," Mr 
Hassan said, adding that the government should encourage banks to 
offer packages for purchasing computers. 

"The common man should be able to buy a computer readily and easily." 
This, he said, would go a long way in making Pakistan competitive in 
the global market.


source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-9-
2002_pg6_1