News Desk |
Prime Minister Imran Khan today, chaired a briefing on Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication at Prime Minister’s Office.
The briefing was attended by Minister for Finance Mr. Asad Umar, Minister for IT & Telecom Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Law Minister Dr. Muhammad Farogh Naseem, Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider, Advisor to PM Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Secretary IT Mr. Maroof Afzal, Secretary Privatization Mr. Rizwan Malik and senior officers.
Taking ownership of the e-office initiative, he said that the Prime Minister’s Office would take the lead towards e-office to be followed by all the ministries.
The Prime Minister was briefed about the mandate of the Ministry, the role of various attached departments and organizations, the existing outlook of IT & telecom sector in the country and its contribution along with ways and means to capitalize the huge potential existing in the IT sector.
Secretary IT also highlighted various milestones achieved by the Ministry since its inception. Discussing the issues faced by young entrepreneurs in the IT sector, the Prime Minister directed Finance Minister for devising a mechanism to streamline and facilitate IT experts in payments for their expertise.
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Discussing issues related to telecom sector and license renewals, it was decided that a committee will be constituted in consultation with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for IT. Minister Finance will chair the Committee.
On e-Governance and introducing paper-less culture in offices, the Prime Minister expressed serious concern over negligible progress in some important ministries towards employing e-solutions for conducting official business. In this context, the Prime Minister said that he will soon chair a meeting of Digitization Transformation Committee which could never take place since the formation of the Committee.
Not only will it help reduce costs by reducing the expenditure on paper but also help by cutting down on waste.
Taking ownership of the e-office initiative, he said that the Prime Minister’s Office would take the lead towards e-office to be followed by all the ministries. The Prime Minister also tasked Dr. Ishrat Hussain to formulate a comprehensive roadmap with delineated timelines to ensure transformation towards paper-less culture in all ministries and departments of the federal government.
A paperless office (or paper-free office) is a work environment in which the use of paper is eliminated or greatly reduced. This is done by converting documents and other papers into digital form, a process known as digitization.
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While there are only a few disadvantages to a paperless office, there are many more advantages. An office with no paper files means no large storage containers or bulky filing cabinets. Without all the need for extra storage, money can be saved by using the now increased office space.
There are many other cost-saving benefits as well, as there is no need to print, fax, or copy documents. A digital office will also save government departments a lot of time. The time spent searching for a single document will take a fraction of the time in a paperless office, as the relevant document can be searched with a click.
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If a good digital document strategy is put into place, all documents will be saved in the correct folders with appropriate names and dates, lessening the search time even further.
Lastly, a paperless office culture will also be beneficial for the environment. Not only will it help reduce costs by reducing the expenditure on paper but also help by cutting down on waste. It can also help in reducing demand for paper which causes the cutting down of trees.