1. Introduction
What are Information and communication Technologies?
“Information and communication is essential for a society in terms of education, economic and political awareness, social relations, entertainment and well being of the individuals of a society” .
In today’s globalized world information and communication is the base of businesses like media, telecommunication and software industry. TVs, Computers, cell phones, and internet are considered as development and a step forward in the human history. So Improvement in technologies is considers as high economic growth and increasing welfare.
It is common understanding that ICT sector is rapidly growing and very important in development of economy. The data characterizing the relevance of ICT may as well as refer to domestic production, import, export, and consumption of commodities relating to ICTs. So there must be some comprehensive definition of ICT.
The common international definition of ICT is given by Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). OECD is a working party on indicator of information society , it released a guide that defines ICT on more than 70 pages but here we will see the comprehensive definition.
“The OECD defines the ICT “sector” as the combination of industries of manufacturing and services ”
Broadly Information and Communication Technologies impact education, business, communication, entertainment, employment and banking. So we can say it impacts the whole society and its reforms environment. In ICT sectors there are numbers of huge enterprises working around and generating the revenue of billons and trillions of dollars. In simple they are cash cows , we have the examples of INTEL, AMD, MICROSOFT, NOKIA, and SAMSUNG. There are number of other companies that are playing major role in isolated and global economies.
2. Literature View
We took this literature view by through study on the report issued by FBS i.e. Report on ICT indicators and paper issued by INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE WORLD ECONOMY by Dale W. Jorgenson and Khuong Vu of Department of Economics, Harvard University.
During 2006-07 mobile cellular teledensity 41% registering a growth of 83%. During 2006-07 telecommunication services were available to 89% of the population. Telecom industry has provided 212 thousand jobs . During 2006-07 telecom companies invested U.S $ 2.1 billion. FDI was 1.8 billion $ which was 35% of total FDI of the country. In 2005-06 telecom operators received revenue of193 billion of which 47% were contributed by cellular users. The government received revenue of Rs. 77 billion in the form of taxes and duties from telecom operators, and half of it was contributed by the cellular mobile industry.
The telecom tariff has been reduced continuously and Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is decreased to US $ 3.72. In 2006-07 net 29 million new subscribers were registered. The telecommunication sectors cover the 89%of the whole population of which 40% is covered by cellular mobile industry.
In the connectivity and usage of internet Pakistan has also seen considerable growth. In 1999-2000 there were only half million users of internet and in 2007 they were 3.5 million. Broad band services were started in Pakistan in 2002, till 2007 70940 subscribers were provided with broad band through DSL, optical fiber and wireless services. Among these 80% users are DSL subscribers.
Electronic media is growing very fast in Pakistan. It includes conventional TV, cable TV and FM radio etc. In 2004-05 12.3 million households owned television which was 54% of the total population. Advertisement revenue in Pakistan has increased from Rs. 8 billion in 2002-03 to Rs. 25 billion in 2006-07 and private electronic media provided 16000 jobs in this period.
Information Technology segment of ICT industry is gaining strength with time. By the year 2006-07 850,000 square feet IT-enabled space were leased to IT companies. There are 110,000 IT experts in various fields, 1105 software houses and 60 multinational companies in different cities.
IT Imports (computer and information services) have increased from $ 44 million in 2005-06 to $ 90 million in 2006-07 where as IT exports (computer and information services) have increased from $ 72 million in 2005-06 to $ 116 million in 2006-07 recording an increase of 61%.
The number of personal computers is increasing in the country. About 900,000 were added in year 2006-07.The PCs were 0.22 million in year 2002-03 and after 5 year in 2007 there were 2.35 million PCs which shows as increase of 1000%.
3. Survey Methodology
Survey method is used is the most known method in the present age for the people to know about their opinion, behavior and thinking toward anything. This method was used for the first time in England in 18th century.
This method is also very useful in other subjects beside research e.g. in agriculture, social works, psychology and politics etc.
From study point of view survey methods are of two types
1. Descriptive Survey
2. Exploratory Survey
2.1. Developmental Survey
2.1.1. Cross sectional Survey
2.1.2. Longitudinal Survey
2.2. Inter-related Survey
4. Stages of Survey
Survey is empirical and it’s done with planning. To decide every stage of survey method is called survey plan. These stages are as follow;
1. Formulation of Problem
2. Population and Sampling
3. Tools of survey
4. Data Collection
5. Data Analysis
6. Results and Conclusion
There are also two types of questions
1. Open ended questions
2. Closed ended questions
5. Survey Report on impact of ICTs in Pakistan
5.1 Formulation of Problem
Our world is becoming more and more global by each passing day. Technologies are emerging rapidly and smarter and reliable solutions are available. Due to globalization we are also impacted by these technologies. It is a miser y that we are unable to use these miraculous technologies efficiently so we are not benefitted by them. This survey is conducted to emphasize on the importance and role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Pakistan.
This survey is divided into three major Heads. These are
1. Education
2. Employment and Businesses
3. Entertainment and Communication
Each of the head contains different questions.
Education
• Do you use computer for research and educational purposes?
• Do you use online encyclopedias like Wikipedia, Encarta and Britannica?
• Have you ever applied for admission in any foreign university for higher education?
• Did you ever use any online library?
• Do you use Search engine for educational purposes like google, yahoo search and Bing?
• Do you use cell phones for browsing search engines and encyclopedias?
• Do you make conference call for studying?
Employment & Businesses
• Did you have any online job?
• Did internet help you in getting a job?
• Do you know about pay per click e.g. Adsense, Adbright, and Clicksor?
• Do you know about affiliate marketing e.g. Amazon Affiliate and eBay Partners Network?
• Did you ever shopped over the internet from eBay, Amazon or Wal*mart?
• Do you know about bulk SMS Marketing strategies?
• Do you use cellular technologies for money transfer e.g. telenor’s “easypaisa”?
Entertainment & Communication
• Do you use social networks like Orkut, Facebook, AOL, Bebo, Twitter and Hi5?
• Do you watch online tubes e.g. Youtube, Megavideo and Howcast?
• Do you use 3G cellular technologies?
• Do you use cell phone for entertainment like games, songs and clips?
• Do you use cell phone for communication like SMS, MMS and WAP?
• Do you use email and chatting like yahoo, msn and Gmail?
The questioner is attached at the end of this report.
5.2 Population, Sampling and statistical tools
We took a sample of students from different departments of Government College University Faisalabad,Punjab Pakistan.. The sample is selected randomly from the students of Business Management and Administration, Social sciences, computer sciences and from different faculty members from different departments . Survey statistics and questioners are attached in the end of this report. For the purpose of analysis simple percentages of the data are calculated to show the trends of the population.
5.3 Data Collection and Analysis
Table1 shows the response of the respondents to different questions, column with male head shows the response of the males while column with female header shows the response of the females and the combined column shows the average of both males and females against each of the 20 questions.
Table2 shows the head wise percentage trends of the respondents. For example the 56.11% trend of male respondents toward Education is obtained by taking the average of the answers of first seven questions (i.e. first seven question are included in Education head) given by the male respondents and 34.92% trend of females toward Employment and Business is obtained by taking the average of the answers of seven questions (from 8-14. these seven question are included in Business and Education head) given by the female respondents. 76% combined trend of both females and males toward Entertainment and Communication is obtained by taking the average of the answers of six questions (from 15-20. these six question are included in Entertainment and Communication head) given by both male and female respondents.
If we take the male respondents then in education segments 85.71% of male respondents use computer for research and educational purposes, 85.71% said that they know the use of encyclopedias and search engines. 35.71% have applied for admission in any foreign university. 35.71% are using e-libraries, 85.71% browsing search engines and encyclopedias and 35.71% use the cell phone for browsing search engines and encyclopedias. 28.57% make conference calls for group studying. Educational head shows in aggregate 56.11% average.
In employment and business head 0% males have online jobs, internet helped 64.28% to get any job, 14.28% know about PPC advertisement programs. 21.42% know about affiliate marketing . 7.1% shop online, 50% are aware of BSM strategies. 50% are using e-Banking and money transfers. In aggregate 17.34% of the male respondents uses ICTs for employment and business purposes.
If we have a glance at entertainment and communication segments then 64.28% of male respondents are the part social networks and communities. 100% watch online videos and movies, 35.71% are aware of 3G cellular technologies. 85.71% use cell phones for playing games, songs and video clips. 100% use cell phones for communication through SMS, MMS and WAP . 85.71% use internet for e-mailing and chatting. In aggregate 78.56% use ICTs for entertainment and communication purposes.
If we take the female respondents then in education segments 93.75% of female respondents use computer for research and educational purposes, 93.75% said that they know the use of encyclopedias and search engines. 18.75% have applied for admission in any foreign university. 6.25% are using e-libraries, 93.75% browsing search engines and encyclopedias and 43.75% use the cell phone for browsing search engines and encyclopedias. 25% make conference calls for group studying. Educational head shows in aggregate 61.50% average.
In employment and business head 6.25% males have online jobs, internet helped 68.75% to get any job, 37.5% know about PPC advertisement programs. 37.5% know about affiliate marketing . 31.25% shop online, 31.25% are aware of BSM strategies. 31.25% are using e-Banking and money transfers. In aggregate 34.92% of the female respondents use ICTs for employment and business purposes.
If we have a glance at entertainment and communication segments then 56.25% of female respondents are the part social networks and communities. 62.5% watch online videos and movies, 62.5% are aware of 3G cellular technologies. 93.75% use cell phones for playing games, songs and video clips. 93.75% use cell phones for communication through SMS, MMS and WAP . 81.25% use internet for e-mailing and chatting. In aggregate 75% use ICTs for entertainment and communication purposes.
If we take combined look then In education 90% of uses computer for research and educational purposes, 90% said that they know the use of encyclopedias and search engines. 23.34% have applied for admission in any foreign university. 55.67% are using e-libraries, 43.34% use the cell phone for browsing search engines and encyclopedias. 30% make conference calls for group studying. This survey shows in aggregate 60.5% of the sample uses ICTs for educational segments.
In employment and business head 3.34% have online jobs, internet helped 63.67% to get any job, 23% know about PPC advertisement programs. 30% know about affiliate marketing . 20% shop online, 40% are aware of BSM strategies. 40% are using e-Banking and money transfers. This survey shows in aggregate 34.5% of the sample uses ICTs for employment and business head.
If we have a glance at entertainment and communication head then 60% of respondents are the part social networks and communities. 80% watch online videos and movies, 46.67% are aware of 3G cellular technologies. 90% use cell phones for playing games, songs and video clips. 96.67% use cell phones for communication through SMS, MMS and WAP . 83% use internet for e-mailing and chatting. In aggregate 76% use ICTs for entertainment and communication head.
Graph1 shows the trend of the male respondents toward all the twenty questions individually. Graph2 shows the trend of the female respondents toward all the twenty questions individually. Graph3 shows the comparison between the males and females and their combined response to all the 20 questions.
Graph5 and Graph6 show the combined trend of respondents against each of the three heads. Graph6 and Graph7 show the comparison of males and females against of the three heads.
5.4 Conclusion
This is the information age and to compete the ever changing and growing world we have to move fastly and side by side. In literature view we have mention the importance of ICT with respect to economy. After 9/11 big changes began to happen in the world and introduction of ICTs in Pakistan started. Since then Information and Communication Technologies have grown as a sector in Pakistan and have been contributing a major part in economy. As Pakistan is an agricultural economy so it is a do or dies matter to realize our water reservoirs are diminishing and to an agricultural economy it’s a deadliest truth. So it’s time to find new dimensions new resources and to grow up new sectors.
Our survey also shows the importance of ICTs in Pakistan. One can easily observer the trends that how much we have to do? And where we are standing? New generation on their own is doing a lot they are self motivated and intelligent, they have potential and ideas, all we need is to provide proper environment so the plants can become trees and can reform our future. We suggest;
1. Proficiency in ICT skills is now regarded as important as basic reading and writing skills. In order to achieve computer literacy among the entire population, ICTs should be incorporated into the formal education system of a country.
2. It must be noted however, that this process does not begin and end with putting computers in schools. Maximum use and benefits can only be derived through corresponding changes in approach to teacher training, curriculum development and administration.
3. This can only be achieved by involving input from representatives of all stakeholder groups, for the development and implementation of the necessary policies and strategies. To gauge the extent to which this goal achieves development which is sustainable, practical measures will have to be put in place.
4. Foreign investors must be encouraged so we could be provided with opportunities of employment.
5. Taxes on Computer equipments and accessories must be cut off so the computers may become cheep.
6. Government must train the persons with advanced and latest technologies as soon as it is introduced in the market e.g. In Pakistan people are still using Visual Studio 6 which was introduced in 1998.
7. We can see from the survey that people use ICTs for entertainment more than the educational or business use so people should be educated about the miracles of ICTs other than entertainment.
8. Immoral use of ICTs must be discouraged. According to a report by google, Pakistan is one of the countries where pornographic contents are highly browsed. Again awareness is the key factor. So both Government and Private sector should arrange seminars, workshops and awareness programs.
References
1. Pakistan ICT Indicators: www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/publications/pakistan_ict/pakistan-ict-indicators.html
2. Guide to Measuring the Information Society: www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/12/36177203.pdf
3. Information Society: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_society_(disambiguation)
4. According to Mobile Cellular Policy Report 2006-07 by PTA
Report By: Muhammad Abubakar Ali
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