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Bridging the digital divide

29 1
11.04.2025

The expansion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Pakistan marks a strategic step toward digital inclusion, yet adoption rates remain uneven and low, especially in remote and rural districts.

Despite targeted interventions through public-private initiatives to extend broadband and telephony services in such remote areas, actual utilization lags due to governance and systemic challenges.

Limited electricity access, inadequate digital literacy, and low awareness of ICT’s economic potential continue to undermine progress.

These regions, with substantial populations engaged in agriculture and small-scale enterprises, offer significant opportunities for technology to enhance productivity and livelihoods.

The situation in capitals is also not too encouraging, ICT adoption in Lahore is 38%, in Karachi it’s about 37%, in Peshawar 29%, and in Quetta 30%.

Further, there are areas where these adoption scores are too low and even zero in some districts like Awaran and Shaheed Sikandar Abad in Balochistan.

Similarly, when it comes to digital literacy (ICT literacy can be defined........

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