CM opens satellite hub at PITB

From Daily Times

LAHORE: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Thursday inaugurated a satellite hub at the central office of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).

He said the hub had been set up to monitor the performance of the highway police patrolling posts, health centres, educational institutions and police stations. He said the hub would also help establish a system of information handling. He said the new system would help various departments keep contact. He said a tracking system had also been set up in all patrolling vehicles.

He said the Software Information Technology Park was being set up in Lahore at a cost of Rs 3.25 billion. He said the project would generate 10,000 jobs and generate annual economic activities of Rs 9 billion. He said that government was setting up an Internet City over 300 acres, which would meet industrial requirements and attract foreign investment in Punjab.

Elahi said the government would waive at least 50 percent tuition fees for all talented students of IT and telecom at the BS, MS and PhD levels. He said the PITB would provide Internet service to rural areas through the satellite hub.

Home Secretary Khusro Pervaiz praised the highways patrol posts, adding that they had helped decrease crimes on highways. He said the satellite hub would help improve their efficiency by improving their contacts. He said the government also intended to set up call centres that would collect feedback and information regarding various departments, including the police.

PITB chairman Rizwan Amin Sheikh said business process centres, telemedicine and call centres would be established in the IT Park. He said that thousands of employees of private and government institutions had been trained under the IT Training Programme.