PM Shehbaz Sharif Directs Faster Digitalization of Government Services

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting in Islamabad to review the National Information Technology Board (NITB) and emphasized the need to provide citizens with simpler, more accessible and digitally enabled government services. He directed relevant institutions to work in an integrated manner to facilitate public access to government services and instructed authorities to make all government digital platforms more effective in line with contemporary requirements.

The prime minister described the transfer of federal ministries to e-office as one of the government’s most important reforms and directed all federal institutions and state-owned enterprises to ensure its implementation. He also ordered the early completion of the digitization of records of all government properties. Officials briefed the meeting that all federal ministries had already shifted to e-office, while efforts were underway to expand its use across other departments and government-owned entities.

Shehbaz Sharif expressed displeasure over delays in the completion of the Islamabad Technology Park and directed that its construction be completed and the facility made operational on a priority basis. He further ordered that the technology park’s operations be fully outsourced. The meeting was also briefed that the NITB had undergone right-sizing and that appointments to key positions were being made transparently. Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema and Dr. Musadik Masood Malik, Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja and senior officials of relevant institutions attended the meeting.