KARACHI: A summit on ‘scaling the fourth industrial revolution’ organized by the Chartered Accountant Women’s Committee (CAWC), recently formed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) was held at a local hotel.
On this occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the provincial government was taking all the important steps to digitalize its departments in order to bring transparency and efficiency as part of digital advancement.
The CM also said that the land revenue department has become the best in Sindh after its computerization and digitalization of land records.
The CAWC is the initiative of ICAP for capacity building of female chartered accountants and female students aspiring to be future chartered accountants.
Earlier, ICAP CAWC Chairperson Hina Usmani briefed the audience about the objectives of this committee and said that they are working for the empowerment of women in all professions of society.
UN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation Chairman Professor Atta-ur-Rahman, while speaking on the occasion, stressed on taking the steps to reap the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) through a knowledge-based approach.
He apprised the participants about the technological advancements taking place around that world and called for further investment in the education sector to become a vibrant part of the 4IR.
The World Bank’s Country Director for Pakistan, Illango Patchamuthu, said that Pakistan has done well in three areas.
The first area is the demographic divide which is to create opportunities for all young people through either entrepreneurship or enhancement of skills so that they could get jobs or do their own business. The second, is the area of digital divide; there are more than 150 million mobile users but the gap between boys and girls using mobile phones needs to be closed besides focusing on the urban and rural divide where farmers can use mobile technology to improve their yield while the third area is human capital where a lot of efforts are needed in education and health sectors.
Pakistan needs to invest in education and healthcare services for attaining an 8 percent GDP growth rate and moderate its population growth between 0.8 percent to 1 percent otherwise the current status quo will lead to a point where existing resources will not be enough to adequately meet the needs of future generations, noted Patchamuthu.
World Bank Director Policy and Country Services Jennifer K. Thomson, through her video message, congratulated the ICAP for holding the summit. She highlighted the opportunities and challenges being faced by women in the digital age.
