Comment by Riaz Haq on March 31, 2023 at 8:29am

Camelback counters trek wilderness for Pakistan (first digital) census

https://www.dawn.com/news/1745167

“We even have to live for days out in the mountains among the people we're counting," says census supervisor.

Plodding over the horizon of Balochistan, camel-riding officials spy on a far-flung cluster of rough wooden homes and start tallying its tribespeople as the national census gets underway.

Beyond the reach of roads, power lines and TV signals in central Balochistan, this arid settlement of five reed huts has no name and hosts barely 15 nomads — three families herding goats and sheep.

“We ride for hours,” said local census supervisor Faraz Ahmad. “We even have to live for days out in the mountains among the people we’re counting.”

In cities and towns, teams wend their way from door to door on motorbikes. But in rural Balochistan, the tarmac gives way to craggy trails that then dissolve altogether in a wilderness of khaki rockland.

A fleet of gurning camels is the only option to get the job done.

“It takes a while to convince them to share their details,” census taker Mohammad Junaid Marri told AFP in Kohlu district, 210 kilometres east of Quetta and one hour by camel from the nearest discernible road.

“In some cases, it’s kind of funny. Since every census team has a security escort, sometimes people run away,” the 30-year-old said after his garlanded camel Bhoora bowed to let him slide off its hump and start peppering families with questions.

Between five and 10 per cent of Kohlu residents live in areas so inaccessible that camels are the only practical transport, estimates 34-year-old Ahmad.

They are rented for 1,000 rupees a day and the price includes a cameleer — a man trudging ahead to lead the bristly beasts on a leash.

In a nation divided along ethnic lines, enumerating citizens — 207 million at last count and an estimated 220m today — is a politically charged act that can alter claims to power and scant state resources.

The data will also be used to outline constituencies in future elections. Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest and least populous province — is rich in natural resources but poor by all other measures.

A separatist insurgency has long simmered in the region, fuelled by the grievance that Islamabad has failed to share the spoils of wealth extracted from Balochistan.

As Marri and Ahmad approach the hamlet on one camel — trailed by another carrying a guard wielding a weathered machine gun — they are eyed by a teenager through a pair of binoculars as children in traditional red floral dresses gather around.

“There’s a lack of awareness among people about the census — they don’t understand the benefits and downsides,” said Ahmad. “They don’t trust us and fear we may cheat them.”

Elsewhere, police guarding census teams in the nation’s remote and restive northwest have been killed by the Taliban.

Despite the decidedly low-tech mode of transport, this is the first time Pakistan’s census will be compiled digitally — on tablets rather than reams of paper. Nonetheless, the old grievances remain.

“What benefits will we get from the census?” asked Mir Khan, 53, in another nearby speck of a settlement at the foot of mountains.

“We will get nothing. The influential people snatch everything the government wants to distribute to the poor.”

“We have never seen any support from the government,” grumbles his cousin Pando Khan, 58. “We see people when they’re campaigning for us to vote for them, and later they never return.”

However, after swapping their personal details with families according to local tribal customs, Ahmad and Marri convince them to answer 25 questions to give them a clearer picture of present-day Pakistan.

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 31, 2023 at 11:05am

HugoBank Appoints Atyab Tahir as CEO to Build a Digital Bank in Pakistan

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hugobank-appoints-atyab-tahir-ceo-02...

Atyab Tahir brings over 2 decades of local and international experience in fintech and digital financial services to help build a digital bank in Pakistan

HugoBank expects to increase Pakistan's bank account penetration rate to over 80% and to open 34 million new accounts by 2027

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HugoBank, Pakistan's latest digital bank led by a Singapore Consortium, today announced the proposed appointment of Atyab Tahir as Chief Executive Officer, subject to the State Bank of Pakistan's fit and proper assessment. Following the company's incorporation, Atyab will set-up and lead HugoBank in Pakistan to offer digital banking services to people and small businesses across the country.

Atyab brings over 20 years of business experience and deep industry knowledge to drive HugoBank's mission in Pakistan. Prior to HugoBank, Atyab led Jazzcash and served as a country head for Mastercard. He has also held senior positions with Tameer Bank and HBL where he focused on innovation and growth. With his vast experience in banking and fintech in Pakistan, the Middle East and New York, Atyab brings the best of both industries complete with a rich understanding of the local market and its needs.

"I am thrilled to lead HugoBank at the beginning of its journey in Pakistan and am confident that our digital bank will catalyse financial inclusion and wellness for the people of Pakistan. I am excited to assemble a team to build a customer-centric bank focused on offering accessible, convenient, and secure digital financial services to underserved individuals and SMEs alike," shared Atyab Tahir, Chief Executive Officer of HugoBank.

HugoBank will promote financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan, offering products and services at price points that are accessible to everyone. The consortium aims to help Pakistan to achieve an 85% bank account penetration within five years, up from the current 16.29%[1] and is expected to open 34 million new accounts by 2027.

Pakistan has one of the lowest credit adoption rates in the financial sector, with only 2.4% of its population having access to credit from formal financial sources and 53% of the country's 220 million population currently financially excluded. Recognising the challenges faced in Pakistan, HugoBank is committed to introduce its state-of-the-art financial platform that will provide customers with an easy and convenient way to safeguard their money. With HugoBank, financial inclusion and literacy will become more accessible, ultimately contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of the country.

Led by Singapore's Atlas Consolidated, which owns and operates the fast-growing WealthcareⓇ and savings app Hugosave, HugoBank is a joint venture formed in partnership with The Getz Group and Muller & Phipps. It received its No-Objection Certificate by the State Bank of Pakistan in January this year.

David Fergusson, CEO of Atlas Consolidated said, "We are pleased to welcome Atyab Tahir as the new CEO of HugoBank. With his extensive experience and deep understanding of the market, we are confident that he will lead HugoBank in promoting financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan and help improve the lives of millions across the country. We are excited to work with him to provide and share international best practices and platforms to drive a positive change in the financial landscape and client's Wealthcare®."

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 2, 2023 at 12:55pm

Pakistan: Technology boosts education reform in remote areas

https://www.globalpartnership.org/results/stories-of-change/pakista...

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Education in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Sindh provinces has been hampered by natural disasters, poor infrastructure and remoteness, and further exacerbated by political, economic and security problems.
From WhatsApp groups to biometric fingerprint systems, innovative technology has helped with building and restoring schools and improving teacher retention in these remote regions.
Since 2014, GPE’s support has led to 53,000 previously out-of-school children enrolled in school in Balochistan, and the tracking of educational data in all 29 districts in Sindh.

Supported by a US$34 million GPE grant, the government of Balochistan set up digital profiles to record land transfers and follow school construction, supporting the completion of schools and allowing education officials to track progress.

Large-scale surveys gathered geospatial data, an innovative and cost-effective way to identify abandoned buildings that could be transformed into schools.

Balochistan also established criteria for the selection of school sites, ensuring no other school existed within a 1.5 km radius and that locations enabled at least 20 out-of-school children to attend. This resulted in schools being built in remote areas with the most need.


Since 2015, 700 schools with new or renovated buildings have been completed and more than 100 girls’ primary schools upgraded to secondary. With GPE support, education authorities began to track real-time data in 14,000 schools, including teacher attendance and enrollment.

This has helped with the allocation of funding to locations with the greatest need. Android apps also record the physical infrastructure of schools, providing timely information on the functionality of toilets, drinking water and electricity.

School monitoring using technology
Both provinces use tech solutions to support management and ensure accountability in the education system. In Balochistan, apps keep track of teacher attendance, recording when teachers are within a certain geo-radius of the school; they work offline in more remote areas, uploading information when there is network access.

Through a US$66 million GPE grant, the Sindh province used tech tools to ensure teachers were deployed to the areas where they were most needed. Fingerprint-based biometric and photograph systems supported by GPS coordinates are also able to track teaching hours.

Greater incentive and validation for teachers
In a significant boost to quality learning, GPE supported the recruitment and training of qualified teachers, with emphasis placed on hiring female teachers to increase girls’ enrollment. Since 2015, 1,200 teachers have been recruited in Balochistan after passing the national testing service exam.

Better teaching and consistently open schools have helped increase student enrollment, with over 56,000 more girls enrolling in public elementary, primary and middle schools in Sindh.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 3, 2023 at 5:32pm

The consumption of broadband internet in Pakistan continues to grow on an individual basis every month, as per a new report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

https://propakistani.pk/2023/01/17/here-is-how-much-internet-pakist...(FY22).

This is reflected in the average monthly consumption of data, which increased to 6.8 GB per user in the outgoing financial year 2021-22 (FY22).

Every Pakistani broadband user consumed 81 GB of data in FY22, which showed double-digit growth of 11 percent as compared to the average yearly internet consumption which stood at 73 GB per person in FY21.

During the period under review, 8,970 petabytes of mobile data usage was reported in Pakistan, indicating a 31 percent increase from the previous year. Five years ago, mobile data usage in the country stood at 1,262 petabytes.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 4, 2023 at 6:50pm

There were 87.35 million internet users in Pakistan in January 2023. Pakistan's internet penetration rate stood at 36.7 percent of the total population at the start of 2023. Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in Pakistan increased by 4.4 million (+5.4 percent) between 2022 and 2023.


https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-pakistan#:~:text=Ther...)%20between%202022%20and%202023.


Data published by Ookla indicate that internet users in Pakistan could have expected the following internet connection speeds at the start of 2023:

Median mobile internet connection speed via cellular networks: 14.93 Mbps.

Median fixed internet connection speed: 10.28 Mbps.

Ookla’s data reveals that the median mobile internet connection speed in Pakistan decreased by 1.42 Mbps (-8.7 percent) in the twelve months to the start of 2023.

Meanwhile, Ookla’s data shows that fixed internet connection speeds in Pakistan increased by 1.54 Mbps (+17.6 percent) during the same period.

There were 71.70 million social media users in Pakistan in January 2023.

This figure might seem quite different to the values that we published in previous years, but please note that the sources we use to inform and calculate our social media user numbers have made important and wide-ranging revisions to their data over recent months.

These adjustments to source data mean that our latest numbers are not comparable with equivalent figures that we published in previous years, and readers should not regard any differences in these numbers as an actual change in social media use.

Indeed, our analysis of various data points from trusted third parties such as GWI and data.ai shows that there has been no discernible drop in overall social media use, and in almost all countries, social media use continues to increase.

As a result, readers should view any such differences as “corrections” in the data, and not as an indication that social media adoption has declined.

The number of social media users in Pakistan at the start of 2023 was equivalent to 30.1 percent of the total population, but it’s also important to note that social media users may not represent unique individuals (see our detailed notes on data to learn why).

Meanwhile, data published in the ad planning tools of top social media platforms indicates that there were 53.20 million users aged 18 and above using social media in Pakistan at the start of 2023, which was equivalent to 39.1 percent of the total population aged 18 and above at that time.

More broadly, 82.1 percent of Pakistan’s total internet user base (regardless of age) used at least one social media platform in January 2023.

At that time, 28.0 percent of Pakistan’s social media users were female, while 72.0 percent were male.

Note: due to significant revisions in source data, we regret that we’re currently unable to provide reliable figures for the year-on-year change in social media users in Pakistan. We recommend that readers do not compare our latest figures for social media use with figures published in our previous reports, because such comparisons will deliver inaccurate results.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 10, 2023 at 5:10pm

Mapping Pakistan’s video streaming landscape


https://insights.datadarbar.io/mapping-pakistans-video-streaming-la...

Pakistanis are obsessed with content, as the success of Tiktok and other such platforms has shown. Obviously, it’s no surprise in an overwhelmingly young country where access to the internet is growing by the day. For example, broadband subscribers have more than doubled from 44.6M in FY16 to 118.8M by FY22. Naturally, these users are turning to digital platforms for their content consumption, be it news, sports, or other entertainment. However, this trend doesn’t only apply to short format, but the broader video streaming landscape as well.

This has attracted a number of contenders, both local and international, to cash in on the growing demand. The market is far bigger and more diverse than what many of the Pakistani Netflix users imagine. And it’s growing fast too. For this analysis, we limited our lens only to the players who had a mobile app (Android or iOS) since the universe of web-based portals is too complex to track.

Even based on this criteria, there were as many as 35 players either operating or popular in Pakistan. Excluding all news live streaming and exclusive products of cable TV companies. Some of the names, such as Rakuten’s Viki – known for Korean content – are not exactly present in the country but still find some viewers.

Between 2017 and June’22, apps based out of Pakistan alone have seen almost 33.8M downloads globally, according to Appfigures estimates. That doesn’t include Daraz since its entry into streaming as there’s no way to separate e-commerce and streaming downloads. But based on market estimates, it accounts for a significant share (thanks to cricket tournaments). On the other hand, international OTT players managed to get 23.9M downloads from Pakistan during the same period.

Of course, not all downloads are users and even after that, metrics like average session duration are better KPIs. Plus, in most cases, there’s going to be web users as well. To account for the latter, we also looked at the traffic for selected players. There, Netflix remains the undisputed king where its monthly traffic has grown from just 149K in Jan’17 to 2.8M in Jun’22, as per Semrush. Meanwhile, the monthly website visits for SonyLiv and Zee5 have wildly oscillated during the comparable period.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 10, 2023 at 5:10pm

A Song of Pakistani Audio Streaming Scene

https://insights.datadarbar.io/a-song-of-pakistani-audio-streaming-...


Then came the early days of various app stores, wherein indie developers put up applications for songs, like milli naghmay or those of a particular artist. However, a majority of our population jumped all those phases and simply leapfrogged to (both foreign and Pakistani) audio streaming platforms. Now you can simply download an app and get access to a vast range of music libraries and playlists.

From being a mere value added service with meager contribution to revenue (if at all), music has now become big business. The biggest players like Spotify (and Youtube) have built a massive, and direct, global audience which no record company could previously imagine.

The Evolution of Pakistani Audio Streaming Scene
However, Pakistan has its own rich history of music – both mainstream and indie – which was basically a greenfield. YouTube did have a sizable collection but it was blocked in the country for years and wasn’t anyway a mobile-first audio platform. If you wanted to listen to lesser known gems, the best was to visit Rainbow Center and get a CD.

Then in April 2015, an app by the name of Taazi, founded by the pop icon Haroon, appeared on Google Play. In September, Patari came onto the scene with the promise of solving the supply side as well – i.e. paying artists. The startup saw its fair share of drama, with both ups and downs. Eventually, it became irrelevant from once being a major player, at least in the Pakistani Twitterverse.

In terms of numbers though, neither Taazi nor Patari were really up there even in early 2018. Among the Pakistani audio streaming platforms, it was actually bestsongs.pk. Launched in April 2017, it accumulated over a million installs in less than 12 months. Something the other two still haven’t managed to do combined.

What made bestsongs.pk different (and perhaps more successful) was its mix of Pakistani and Bollywood music. After all, the latter occupies a huge place in our music, and time, consumption. So any app that brought the two together would intuitively be more appealing to users.

The Bollywood Factor
This was also how a few Indian players continued to get meaningful traction from Pakistani users. In fact, the likes of Gaana and JioSaavn, at various points, tried to enter the market – the former partnering with carrier billing platform Simpaisa for payments and the latter even putting up billboards on the stress of Karachi. Hungama Music was also popular early on before it became unavailable locally.

Due to the geopolitical tensions, their expansion plans fizzled out, at least formally. But the massive demand for Indian music here meant users never really stopped downloading those apps, who also have a decent Pakistani collection. That said, downloads of Indian apps have lately dwindled. While their share in our overall installs (between Jan’17 and Oct’22) still stands at 16%, it was just 3.5% in the last month. Most of this comes from Gaana, which has almost 4.5M installs (64K a month on average) during the period under review. The other two are far behind and have negligible numbers, especially of late.

Enter Spotify into the Pakistan Audio Streaming Market
Though geopolitics could be one explanation for Indian apps’ decline in Pakistan, the bigger reason seems to be Spotify. Since its entry, the global giant has swept away the market, as the steep growth trajectory below shows. In less than two years of launching, it’s now the single most downloaded app in the category, at around 11.9M.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 22, 2023 at 7:08pm

NADRA upgrades Pak-ID biometric app with document recognition and digital signatures

https://www.biometricupdate.com/202303/nadra-upgrades-pak-id-biomet...


The beta release of the Pak-ID mobile app adds a real-time document identification module to go with contactless biometrics capabilities, according to an announcement from NADRA Chair Tariq Malik.

The new version of Pak-ID identifies what kind of document is being scanned with an intelligent, real-time document identification module, building in enhanced security, Malik says on Twitter.

Digital signatures can now be added to applications for a wide range of identity cards documents, made remotely without visiting NADRA offices. It captures face and fingerprint biometrics through the users’ smartphone.

Malik says the app “brings National Registration Centre to your smart phone,” and encouraged users to share their experiences with the app to inform further development and upgrades. An in-app survey is also being run to collect user feedback.

Pak-ID was first announced by NADRA in 2021, and was tested by 75,000 overseas Pakistanis.

The apps development is among NADRA’s efforts to support the government’s Digital Pakistan policy.

NADRA is also working on multi-finger biometric verification with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 22, 2023 at 7:17pm

Pakistan’s
Data-Protection
Landscape in 2023
ISSUE BRIEF

UZAIR YOUNUS

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Pakistan...


As both the global and domestic economies digitize, loose
and discretionary regulations related to local data-storage
and processing requirements, as well as cross-border data
flows, are likely to impede economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan. Furthermore, a lack of dialogue among policymakers on data-protection issues creates
space for coercive and privacy-violating policies by authorities (military and civilian) with a history of overreach, often in
response to dissent and legitimate criticism of their behavior.

---------

While companies comply with regulations that impose
onerous compliance costs on their operations in India, the
scale of the Indian market is exponentially different than
that of Pakistan; in a competitive world, investors might
be willing to pay higher compliance costs to access larger
markets. Given its size and the ongoing economic crisis in
the country, Pakistan should follow policies that proactively
reduce costs and improve ease of doing business. Copycat
legislation that forces data localization or other compliance
actions from global companies will only force them to stall
their proposed investment and expansion in Pakistan.
Policymakers must also put in place rules and procedures
that limit arbitrary actions, including bans without due process. By curbing these arbitrary actions and instead complying with digital-speech laws with international human-rights
standards, Pakistan can provide some certainty to private
and civil-society actors that due process will be followed
prior to taking down content, forcing compliance, or blocking websites, apps, and companies from operating in the
country.
Finally, Pakistan will require legislation to protect data, guard
citizens against bad actors on the Internet, and foster an environment that enables greater investment and growth in
the economy. At the same time, allowing for free expression
on the Internet while protecting citizens from hate speech
and online harm is also going to be vital. The most effective way to develop policies and legislate on these topics is
through an inclusive and collaborative process.
If policymakers continue to take a confrontational path
to legislation and policymaking in the coming months,
Pakistan’s digital economy will only suffer, leading to suboptimal outcomes for a digitally savvy, globally connected,
and competitive population. Such outcomes will only
weaken Pakistan’s economy, its democracy, and its society.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 22, 2023 at 7:41pm

DigitAll: What happens when women of Pakistan get access to digital and tech tools? A lot!
by Javeria Masood – Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Pakistan

https://www.undp.org/pakistan/blog/digitall-what-happens-when-women...


We recently visited South Punjab to explore the digital landscape through ethnographic research. The three aspects we intended to explore were:

Mobile phone and internet penetration through a cultural and behavioural lens: what limits and facilitates women with better access and how does this impact their lives?
Decision-making and available opportunities: what are possible economic avenues available to women once access is provided and how do they leverage these?
Impact and influence of digital tools at a community level: what differences emerge because of access to digital tools made available to women vs being limited to men and how does that contribute at the community level?
We covered 11 areas of the underdeveloped South Punjab area, also known as the Siraiki Belt. We explored three districts: Rajhanpur, Muzafargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan. The listening was done through consultation sessions, community visits and bilateral interviews.

Here are some key insights from the field:

1. Women think at a community level and prompt behaviour change
Samina, from Muzafarghar, is taking training to start a livestock business. She wants to become an example of economic empowerment and plans to include other women and young girls in her livestock business.

‘People taunt me that I have no one to take care of me and my three daughters are a liability. I want to educate and empower them. I am working toward making a world where all girls are as accepted, empowered and enabled as the boys of my area’.

2. Women understand climate vulnerabilities, are more responsible in the management of resources and are strong in face of adversities
Recent floods have left a devastating and lasting impact in South Punjab. It has damaged houses, fields, and livestock at a magnitude greater than in previous years. Samina shared her story with us. The initial weather warning did not convey the scale of the threat and thus did not encourage people to move. Once the flood was underway, she used her husband’s phone to raise awareness for herself and other households in the neighbourhood.

‘We stock dry food and frugally consume it throughout the year. In addition to the loss of our crops on the field, if our stored food was also damaged due to the floods, we would have died of hunger. I made my neighbours aware in time and we moved our food and resources at different heights and directions numerous times to avoid the flood water. Access to information helped me in making informed decisions.’


3. Access impacts behaviour and reduces gender inequality
Shumaila Ashraf (UC Sikhaniwala) took a course for ladies' parlour services in 2015 to economically empower herself but wasn't successful. In 2022, digital literacy enabled her to learn new techniques and meet the demands of her clients. Her business is now flourishing. She is seen as an example to follow for self-improvement and the economic upscaling of a household.

‘I didn’t know how to use a mobile phone very well. Once I learnt, it was a struggle to get access to it as the men in my family did not let me. My husband now shares his phone with me; he sees the value it brings. I am used to using the internet now, and watch videos to build and capitalize my skills. I will be able to save enough money so we can send our daughter to schools as well.’
We also met numerous women skilled in crafts that all have the potential to become businesses. Limited finances force people to make unfair choices and prioritize their sons over daughters. The systemic injustice toward women requires multifactorial solutions and access is proving to be a strong factor.

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