Fwd: Google Public Policy Blog - My visit to Pakistan (Rishi Jaitly).
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Badar Khushnood
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Sep 17, 2008, 1:35:33 PM9/17/08
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Thought this might be of interest to you. Apologies for cross-posting.
Regards, Badar.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Badar Khushnood<ba...@google.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 2:50 PM Subject: Google Public Policy Blog - My visit to Pakistan (Rishi Jaitly). To: undisclosed-recipients
"I left Pakistan with a single thought: that there is enormous
potential for this nation to emerge as a leading center of growth and
innovation."
For this 'milestone' post to happen on the official Google blog, a lot
of people were instrumental and I'd like to extend my personal
gratitude to all of them including:
- Event owner: CIO Pakistan [ Rabia Garib, Salaina Haroon, Mehjabeen
and others ; www.ciopakistan.com ]
- Event organizer: Terrabiz Group [ Hamza Hashmi, Akbar Aqil, M.
Phaysal and others ; www.terrabizgroup.com ]
- Karachi bloggers: Dr. Awab Alvi, Sabeen Mahmud, Jehan Ara, Imtiaz Noor, Farzal Dojki, Zenubia
Qureshi, Jamal Ashiqain, Madeeha Syed, Midhat Bhamani, Mohsin Jafri & others
- Lahore bloggers: Umair Javed,
Sohaib Khan, Salman Munir, Aqeel Zafar, Tanssir Hafeez, Khurram Amin, Mannan Amin, Shahrukh &
others
- Mr. Arif Ansari for the VIP visit to Wagha border
- Contacts & management at: Dawn, Jang, NR3C, PSEB, MoITT, ICT
R&D Fund, CNBC, SKMCH & SMEDA for all the meetings
I, once again, would like to thank all of you who helped bring Pakistan
on the
Google radar with special thanks to Rabia Garib for hosting the event
and Hamza Hashmi for not only organizing everything as expected but
also
taking care of the cumbersome visa related matters.
Best regards,
Badar Khushnood
Pakistan Country Consultant
Google Inc.
Posted by Rishi Jaitly, Policy Analyst,
South Asia
How do we develop points of view about places we have not seen and
people we have not met?
Newspapers,
TV networks, film studios, radio broadcasters, and book publishers
have, of course, exerted significant influence over our assumptions for
years. Today, thanks to the Internet, our views about far away peoples
and places are also informed by a countless group of peers spanning the
globe. But no matter how powerful and instructive a blog,
Wikipedia
article, or YouTube
video may be, no technology will ever replace real immersion --
live and in person.
I
recently had the opportunity to visit Pakistan, which just celebrated
61 years as an independent state. Before my visit, my views about
Pakistan had largely been shaped by Western media -- and these days,
it's difficult to open a newspaper without coming across a story
highlighting the country's "tumultuous" sociopolitical environment.
But do these depictions represent the entire truth? Do they credibly
tell the whole story of a nation of more
than 160 million people? Surely not. For instance, did you know
that the Karachi Stock Exchange has
been among Asia's top performers this decade -- and was named the "World's Top-Performing Market" by BusinessWeek and
Bloomberg a few years ago? Probably not.
I
left Pakistan with a single thought: that there is enormous potential
for this nation to emerge as a leading center of growth and innovation.
During
my visit, Pakistan's blogging community expressed impressive passion
for the Internet medium, media organizations demonstrated a propensity
for serious journalism, business leaders conveyed a track record of
innovation, and government officials offered a refreshing receptiveness to new ideas.
It's
an especially exciting time for information and communication
technologies in the country: Pakistan's rapidly-growing Internet
population of 17 million and sizeable mobile phone subscriber base of 89 million present innumerable opportunities for all
those interested in delivering empowering services for Pakistani users.
Of course, we at Google will not achieve our own mission unless
we deepen our relationships with Pakistani users and institutions.
Though we're delighted that google.com.pk is Pakistan's top web site and that nearly one third of
blogs registered with Pakistan's first blog aggregator are
registered with our free blogging service Blogger, we know we
have a long way to go as we strive to meet the unique needs of
Pakistani users.
Importantly, Pakistan's Ministry of Information
Technology & Telecommunications
has recently initiated an open consultation to revise the country's
National IT Policy. This represents a significant opportunity for all
stakeholders to ensure that the Internet in Pakistan develops as a free
and open platform for information, communication, and innovation. I,
for one, thank the government for formally inviting Google to
participate in this policy making process.
As an American of
Indian origin (with some ancestral roots in what is now Pakistan), my
remaining emotions, observations, and recommendations are too many to
list in this single post. I will say, though, that I am grateful to
have had the opportunity to visit Pakistan and develop my own point of
view about one of the most important places in our world.