The digitization of government started long before the pandemic, but Covid-19 has accelerated the transformation to an unprecedented speed. The goal is to provide services in a more productive, open, and cost-effective way. Digitization in silos at the ministerial and departmental level has been in practice for years but now it’s a time to explore the "whole of government" powered by emerging technologies for collective and collaborative transformation across the board.

H.E. Dr Arif Alvi, The President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan welcomed Tech Valley and Google Cloud for taking such initiative and bridging the technology gap in the government sector. He stressed that adapting innovative technologies will help the government to run more efficiently and improve citizen-centric service delivery across all the institutions. Paul Wilson, Managing Director for Public Sector, Google Cloud in Asia Pacific shared the company’s industry expertise and his experience working with public sector agencies around the world to digitally transform for success.

Federal Ministry of IT & Telecom, Mr. Amin ul Haq also congratulated Tech Valley  and Google  on expanding the Google CS First training program to cities in all four provinces over the past two years. He mentioned that tele-density has reached over 85% and continues to expand. It’s time to focus on the application layer and build a strong foundation for data-driven government. Federal Minister for Education & Technical Training, Mr. Shafqat Mehmood thanked Tech Valley and Google  for leading the remarkable initiative of transforming schools under ICT to explore teaching resources through Google for Education to inspire creativity, encourage hands-on learning, and equip students with digital skills. He mentioned that the Prime Minister’s vision of Single Curriculum is currently in execution phase and now it’s a time to have a unified robust technology platform to reshape the future of education in Pakistan. 

Lastly, Federal Minister of Railways, Mr. Azam Khan Swati emphasized the need to adopt emerging technologies to run transparently and efficiently. He stated that digitalization is one of the top priorities for the railways and its future and asked technology providers to come forward, join hands and guide the public sector in adopting emerging technologies like cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, blockchain, GIS, real-time monitoring of rolling stock and infrastructure, improving accuracy of passenger information, predictive maintenance planning, and most importantly, seamless journeys integrating with other modes of transport.

Mr. Umar Farooq, co-founder and CEO of Tech Valley said “The presence of all the stakeholders and senior leadership from Google Cloud at today’s summit clearly reflects the commitment and assurance that we all believe in Prime Minister’s vision of Digital Pakistan. Our team is extremely excited to work with the government organizations in this amazing journey of collective transformation”