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President UNGA,
Secretary General,
Excellencies,
Fellow Ministers,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
The significance of today’s gathering cannot be over emphasized. We are reviewing the outcomes of ten years’ progress made under World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) platform and how to take the development of ICTs and related socio-economic benefits to the next level in coming years. Today we recognize ICT as true drivers of economic growth with immense potential to transform lives of people and societies. However, I believe there is still a lot to be derived from the utility embedded in ICTs.
We need to focus on the success factors and to underline potential impediments in the uptake of ICTs during this review process. WSIS Action Lines have been very elaborate in terms of creating inclusiveness, connectivity, safety & security. These very concepts will continue to be relevant and significant when we try to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process for WSIS review as well as all other stakeholders who worked tirelessly to produce a forward looking and workable consensus on the outlook of the WSIS process going forward.
President,
Our Government under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fully realizes the potential of ICTs to spur socio-economic growth. We consider it as a key enabler to achieve efficiency, transparency, good governance and empowering the people. We are pursuing with the vision of accelerated digitization to transform Pakistan into a knowledge based economy. Our focus remains on ubiquitous development of ICT infrastructure across the country with special emphasis on serving marginalized segments of the society and bridging the digital divide. We believe in connectivity and inclusiveness for all. Special projects to empower women and girls through ICTs have been launched and broadband proliferation is our policy priority. Our Telecommunication Policy 2015 is very much aligned with Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the WSIS Action Lines. We have made notable progress on C1, C2, C6 and C7. Also, with the rapid uptake of data consumption in Pakistan and usage of ICTs, we are getting increasingly mindful of other action lines such as C5, C10 etc. to address them through legislative and policy frameworks.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We all appreciate the remarkable role of ICTs in creating new opportunities for social interaction, enabling new business models, and contributing to economic growth and development in all other sectors
The foremost outcome of ICT journey of last few decades is a world which is increasingly interconnected now and people have unprecedented access to information and knowledge. Information highways are traversing seamlessly across geographic boundaries to create ‘Cyberspace’ that is shared by all. The novel use of cyberspace has resulted in commercial, economic, cultural, and social opportunities for users. The vehicle of cyberspace, ‘the Internet’ is now being used by over 3 billion people across the globe. This in itself testifies to the significance, efficacy, utility and relevance of the internet. And as a progressive nation we fully endorse the global vision of seamless connectivity across the world. Emphasis now needs to be on connecting the unconnected, the unserved, the underserved and the marginalized.
The issue of bridging digital divides in all its manifestations among and within countries, thus, needs continued focus and attention so that the remaining population can also have access to the immense knowledge platform.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The doctrines of openness and inclusiveness have facilitated the growth and value of internet. Over the years, roles of governments, private sector, civil society, technical community and international organizations must be appreciated here. Each entity has played its due role and hopefully will continue its efforts to ensure constructive use of the cyberspace.
The benefits that will accrue from expanding safe and secure use of the shared cyberspace are enormous as it touches every aspect of our lives. However, with this organic growth and proliferation of the internet, unfortunately, some worrisome trends in the use of cyberspace have also emerged. The concerns over safety and security potentially impede the objective of accelerated development and affect the confidence of people in using applications and services offered to traverse the cyberspace.
The increase in incidents related to malicious use of ICTs in cyberspace is posing risks to whole spectrum of users from individuals to States. The growing menace has serious implications for international peace and security. The diversity of threats and motives of spiteful and rogue actors in cyberspace increase the risk manifold. Attacks against critical infrastructure and information systems is a growing global menace and that dark side of internet needs to be dealt collectively through collaborative efforts. Use of cyberspace by criminals and terrorists cannot be permitted and we, as responsible members of the global community must ensure that such elements do not operate in cyberspace to further their nefarious designs. Similarly the global community needs to agree on minimum standards of protection for human dignity particularly for women and children being the most vulnerable communities of the cyberspace.
Owing to the global nature of the challenge at hand, there is a need for enhanced cooperation among States and other stakeholders to strengthen common considerations for stability and security in the use of ICTs. The aspect of building capacity in countries which lack expertise is also essential to achieve global deterrence against such threats. Significance of local and regional initiatives cannot be emphasized more.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We recognize internet as a global resource and believe that its governance and management should be transparent with participation of all stakeholders. The stakeholders need to focus on their respective roles so that internet continues to be vibrant, innovative and a dynamic information platform.
Since use of internet has proliferated in a manner that was not visualized earlier, there is a need to optimize its management model. The models should consider inclusiveness of all segments of global community under an institutional framework.
The principle of mutual respect and mutual trust hold paramount importance in governance models particularly as they relate to the Internet.
The emerging challenges such as protecting intellectual property rights and privacy also require novel and adaptive policy responses from Governments. We need to work together to also ensure that the rights of individuals offline are appropriately covered online.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Indeed, we are moving towards Internet of Things, digital smart cities, virtualization in clouds which are probably the next landmarks after internet in ICT evolution. To make all this universal reality, it is important that our policies should reflect measures to overcome digital divide, availability of spectrum, infrastructure deployment, content & application development. Special focus on research and innovation is also critically important. We need to consider whole ecosystem of ICTs from demand to supply side while realigning our policies to carry forward WSIS agenda and to make progress of Sustainable Development Goals.
Pakistan has followed the policy of free flow of information and open access to the internet. We will continue our support and assistance to initiatives aimed at achieving our shared goal of socio-economic development through safe and secure use of ICTs.
Thank you.