The 21st century has proven to be the game-changer in Information Technology. It has brought countless revolutionary changes in businesses everywhere. The adoption of new technologies has resulted in the emergence of several new phenomena. One such transformation is e-Governance.
E-Governance
In recent years, Pakistan has made significant efforts for the implementation of e-Governance in the public sector. Electronic Governance or e-Governance is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of information, communication transactions, and integration of various stand-alone systems.
In the launching ceremony of his dream project “Digital Pakistan”, Prime Minister Imran Khan had also mentioned that the introduction of e-Governance would be essential in combating “the pandemic of corruption” and the best way to bring ease-of-doing-business with the government. e-governance
E-Office is a flagship project of National IT Board, Ministry of Information Technology, and Telecom. It digitizes intra-government operations and processes towards a paperless office environment. It aims at promoting the e-filing system and creating time & cost-saving procedures to enhance working efficiency in all government departments. Up to 40, Federal Ministries have been shifted to the solution of e-Office up till now.
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With the prevalence of the paperless system, slow-paced working patterns of offices will be replaced by quick and efficient operations. Approvals and permits, which once used to be granted in days, can be processed in hours. Employees can access the required documents from everywhere in the meantime. Hence competency of government employees can also be checked at every stage.
E-Office: Paper takes up lots of space
Filling, organizing, and maintaining large piles of papers is a laborious task. In the paperless setting, everything is just a click away. Employees can utilize time and effort in other important chores. The paperless work environment is also cost-saving. The government can save a huge amount of money which is wasted on procurement of inventory and maintenance of a record. e-governance
Thus, everyone can predict that shifting from a system of files and papers to a paperless world will not only serve the noble environmental cause of “Clean and Green Pakistan” by saving trees but also increase the working efficiency of employees by saving time manifold.
The e-Office environment offers 24 hours of accessibility to all required documents. Everyone within the organization having access to the internet can get the document of their need in time. It also offers the security of confidential information. The system administrator grants document access rights to concerned people only.
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Hence, the confidentiality of the matter is never compromised. Moreover, in case of theft, natural disaster or any unforeseen situation, the data online always remains secure.
At large, e-Office provides the easiest way of conducting operations in public offices. Moving forward with paperless work in public offices can make administrative actions effortless.
IT can transform inefficiency into efficiency
It is not merely a symbol of the digital revolution, but also generates true advantages for governments, citizens, private sector and all other stakeholders of government. By its deployment in the offices, people will be able to focus on their real task which is bringing innovation, creative ideas and constructive changes in the organizations instead of maintaining files. e-governance
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Government of Pakistan is targeting to achieve an intra-ministry paperless environment by December 2020.
Shabahat Ali Shah is the CEO, National IT Board. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.