Mushahid for task force to devise future strategy for internet governance

Islamabad
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Monday stressed the need for a task force comprising representatives of government, academia, industry and civil society to devise future strategy for proper internet governance in the country.
He was talking about the vital importance of Internet Governance in Pakistan while addressing as chief guest at the launching ceremony of Pakistan School on Internet Governance (PkSIG) along with inauguration of a four-day workshop at Higher Education Commission (HEC) Secretariat. HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Dr. Ismail Shah, HEC Executive Director Dr. Raza Bhatti, and HEC DG (IT) Anwar Amjad were also present on the occasion.
The event is being organised by HEC and National Textile University in partnership with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Asia-Pacific Network Internet Centre (APNIC), and Internet Society (ISOC).
The four-day workshop, which is first-ever event under the auspices of PkSIG, will cover political, legal, economic, socio-cultural, technological and other dimensions of the Internet Governance within the context of the Pakistani national imperatives. It will include practical oriented workshops, round tables, and case presentations.
In his speech, Senator Mushahid Hussain commended the initiative of HEC and its partners for launching School on Internet Governance in Pakistan. He said that all stakeholders including government, private sector, civil society, and academia will have to play a proactive role for policymaking related to Internet governance and its effective implementation.
He said that Internet is a driving force for change, adding that steps for internet governance in Pakistan are extremely necessary. He pointed out the problems facing Pakistan in terms of Internet accessibility and productivity and emphasised upon addressing them. He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project should also be a part of Internet governance, as Internet can play a pivotal role in achieving the CPEC objectives. He termed PkSIG, launched by HEC, as first step towards a long journey.
Dr. Ismail Shah said that Pakistan has witnessed a remarkable growth in terms of people’s accessibility to Internet, adding that the number of people having access to Internet has increased from 3.7 million in 2014 to 19.2 million at present. He told the audience about different initiatives of PTA for advancement and regulation in different areas of ICT and telecom sector.
In his opening remarks, HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed hoped that the four-day event will define the responsibilities of academia and all other stakeholders about the Internet governance. He said that discussions and case studies during the workshop will identify issues prevailing in the field and will propose recommendations to sort them out.
He said that PkSIG will help individuals from Pakistan to better understand the global and regional Internet Governance issues, settings, and processes while gaining access to comprehensive and structured knowledge on various aspects of Internet Governance, and the actors, issues and settings surrounding it.
The workshop speakers will narrate the history of Internet since 1950s and the story how it evolved over the years. The session will cover Internet users statistics, infrastructure, Internet QoS, ISPs in the country, mobile operators, undersea cables, the ccTLD, the IDN ccTLD, root-server instances, IXPs, stakeholder groups, IPv4 and IPv6, international involvement, mobile apps, 3G/4G, smart-phones, research and educational networks, the role of Academia in the Internet Development, social media usage, local content and various other topics of the interest of Internet users.
The ICANN and ISOC representatives said that the workshop participants will deliberate necessity of developing proper policies for today’s Internet usage at the national level. It will also stress the need for cyber-legislations at the national and regional level due to the “border-less” nature of the Internet.