Study On Assessment Of Information And Communication Technology In Rural Areas Of Pakistan

Information and Communications Technology(ICT)attracted enormous attention as an important tool for the development of rural areas,particularly in the developing countries.ICT is playing an important role in bridging the gap between the people and communities mainly from rural areas.ICT is recognized as an important driver of innovation,employment and productivity,and widely attributed as the main pillar for the economic development of a country.Social scientists believe that ICT can play an important role in socio-economic development,Gross Domestic Product(GDP)growth,productivity and organizational infrastructure improvement,poverty reduction,employment and democratic maturity in the people of a country.In Pakistan's scenario,the key ICT sources are mobile phone operators and internet service providers,which have attracted a lot of foreign investment and contributed a considerable portion to the total GDP during the last two decades.The Government of Pakistan(GOP)have liberalized its telecom sector and allowed foreign investment here in,which have brought a marvelous change in the shape of advance ICT and fastest transmission of information and data e.g.Fiber optic,internet,DSL,VOIP and wireless telephony.Furthermore,ICT has proven significant impact on education,health,and cultural creativity,transparency of government departments and agencies,and social integration among individuals from different ethnic groups in Pakistan.In the present globalized era,the accessibility of ICT to rural areas in developing countries like Pakistan has been a core challenge that needs to be addressed.The main objective of this dissertation is to review and add to the existing literature regarding the ICT diffusion in Pakistan,particularly,in rural areas.The study is aimed at finding out the factors affecting the ICT diffusion in rural areas of Pakistan and subsequently determining the relationship between ICT and economic growth.Based on the results of the findings of the study,this dissertation put forward two empirical models for the development of technology and trade in Pakistan.The theoretical foundation of this dissertation is based on the combination of SPERTEL framework and ICT development model.The research principally assesses the adoption and role of ICT in the daily life of common people of the rural areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.Primary data was collected from the people belonging to different races of life across the stretch of the province.The results of the dissertation confirm that among the seven factors,social and political factors have a prominent impact on ICT diffusion,while technological and environmental factors have a moderate impact.The current analysis reveals that by controlling these factors,an enormous and swift ICT diffusion can be achieved in the rural areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(Pakistan).Furthermore,this dissertation proves that ICT diffusion has a significant relationship with the economic growth,which was counter-checked by the application of secondary data for Pakistan.To deal with the variables,Autoregressive Distributed Model(ARDL)model is developed to measure the steady long-run relationship between the ICT and economic growth.The empirical results describe a positive role of ICT on Pakistan's economic growth in both the short and long run as well as the existence of cointegration between these two variables.Moreover,bi-directional causality is detected between ICT diffusion and economic growth.The findings elaborate that an increased number of mobile phones and landline telephone subscribers will strengthen the economic growth including GDP and FDI.Consequently,economic growth will help to enhance the ICT infrastructure in the country.The main contributions of this dissertation are listed as follows:(1)A theoretical model SPERTEL is developed,which analyzes the factors influencing the ICT diffusion in the rural areas of Pakistan.By employing the idea of influencing factors to the diffusion of ICT,the SPERTEL model was developed,which is based on seven major factors including social,political,economic,regulatory,environmental,legal and technological.Confirmatory Factor Analysis CFA technique was used to check the validity of data,while General Linear Regression(GLR)for testing hypotheses and reliability analysis,factor loading analysis of the respondents,correlation analysis,and regression results are carried out for analyzing the primary data for Pakistan.The overall ICT diffusion is profoundly influenced by these factors.(2)An econometric model is built by using five variables for the assessment of ICT in Pakistan.This model analyzes the relationship between ICT diffusion and economic growth.An Autoregressive Distributed Model(ARDL)model is developed in this dissertation to analyze the casual relationship between ICT and economic growth incorporating Foreign Direct Investment(FDI),urbanization and labor force by using data from 1990 to 2015.Advanced econometric techniques such as Unit root test,Johansen co-integration tests were used to check the co-integration between the variables.After confirmation of co-integration,Vector Error Correction(VECM)test was carried out to find the direction of causality among the variables.(3)This dissertation contributes to put forward two empirical models for the development of technology and trade activities in Pakistan,which will further help in reinforcing the ICT and trade infrastructure in the country.In this regard,two empirical models were constructed for the development of ICT and trade activities in Pakistan in particular and the whole Asian region in general,likes China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)and Belt and Road BAR).A cost-effective optical multicarrier model has been introduced for laying down of fiber optic cable from the Chinese border to Rawalpindi(Pakistan).This model of data transmission not only relaxes the laying of fiber optic cable but also reduces the total cost of the project.Furthermore,for BAR project,a decision-making Bayesian model has been constructed to check the feasibility of the project.The implications of both projects are aimed at boosting the technological development and enhancing trade activities in Pakistan.This study invites the attention of the researchers and policymakers,bureaucrats and government stockholders towards the effective adoption of ICT for the socio-economic development of Pakistan.In future,it will further demand to formulate policies for improving the ICT development and adoption in the rural areas of Pakistan in order to reduce the "electronic gap" among rural and urban areas.