2017•11•19     Lahore

The 9th International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2017) saw the presentation of a Industry Note by UNU-EGOV researchers, namely, Irfanullah Arfeen and Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen. The conference took place in Lahore, Pakistan, from 16 to 19 November 2017.

The Industry Note, entitled Digital Government Initiative in Balochistan: A Case Study, analyzes the digital government initiatives in Balochistan, Pakistan, and finds that political, social and economic instability as the main barriers against this kind of initiatives. The analysis suggest that there is a willingness by officials to use ICT in their daily work, however, outcomes are limited due to a lack of IT skills, capacities, and scarce resources. The research methodology consisted of interviews, focus groups and surveys at both provincial and district level in the province of Balochistan. In addition to the industry note, a poster presentation on the same theme was included in the programme.