IN THIS POST:
– About Punjab Information Technology Board
– Services Offered by PITB
The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) is an autonomous organisation formed by the Government of Punjab that is focused on creating a Digital Punjab in the fields of health, law & order, education, agriculture, and transport, along with providing citizen aid services via a range of projects. Let’s learn all about this organisation and how it is bringing innovation and technology to every field in Punjab.
About Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)
The province of Punjab has seen innovative changes and a merge of technology into the residents’ daily lives with the help of digital services and mobile apps. Most of these can be credited to the Punjab Information Technology Board, which was formed in 1999 and has completed more than 270 projects between the years 2012 to 2017 to digitalise Punjab and enhance public services through technology.
Considering that Information Technology (IT) is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, PITB was created when the Government of Punjab felt that a separate department should be focusing entirely on bringing prosperity to the province via the use of innovative IT-based solutions. While the Punjab Information Technology Board had once been under the administration of the Information Technology Department, it is now one of the wings of the Planning & Development Department of Punjab.
The organisation is headquartered in Lahore and is located on the 11th floor of Arfa Software Technology Park (ASTP) on main Ferozepur Road, which is the hub of public transport in Lahore. The official number of PITB is 042-35880062 if you want to talk to a representative.
Services Offered by PITB
With the core aim to create a Digital Punjab, the Punjab Information Technology Board offers its services and innovative solutions in the fields of health, law and order, education, agriculture, livestock, food, and transport, along with offering several citizen-centric and support services both within and beyond Punjab. It also supports young entrepreneurs using various platforms, as well as conducting workshops, training courses, seminars, and conferences related to the field of IT.
Let’s discuss the major projects of PITB in various sectors below. You can visit the Digital Punjab page on the official site for a complete list.
Health
Prominent PITB projects in the health sector include a Biometric Attendance System for health facilities across the province to ensure that all doctors and health professionals are present for duty at their scheduled hours on time, as well as the development of a smartphone application (e-Vaccs) that allows vaccinators to monitor attendance and record real-time immunisation records.
PITB also created an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) & Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) for Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute’s (PKLI) Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment Centre (HPTC), which covers patient registration, billing for consultation and diagnostic services, pharmacy automation, waste management, payroll generation, and much more.
Law & Order
Law and Order is preserved with help from PITB in several projects. One of these is the computerisation of Complaint Management Systems (CMS) at police stations in Punjab, making it a lot quicker and easier to register, verify, and look into various complaints.
A CNIC-based system was also introduced by the Punjab Information Technology Board to digitise criminal records. The digital system contains CNIC numbers, names, photos, and criminal records of individuals, creating complete criminal profiles that are now available in every police station in Punjab via a centrally connected system.
With PITB’s help, a comprehensive database for tenants is now in place to keep a track of tenants and their tenancy contracts. The process involves registering every new tenant of a property with the local police station to keep a track of your property’s tenancy status and to avoid renting out a property to someone with a criminal record.
Education
Visit the website of the School Education Department, powered by PITB for detailed information on school records, performance indicators, admission processes. The Punjab Information Technology Board also plays a hand in eLearn.Punjab, which facilitates online learning throughout the province with a web-based as well as an Android app.
Agriculture, Livestock & Food
Agricultural projects by the PITB include the issuance of Kissan Cards to all farmers, the creation of Smart Food Licencing System for the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) and the development of a database for livestock farmers among many other innovative schemes.
Transport
The Traffic Violation Reporting System app helps in issuing e-challans to traffic violators while the Driving License Issuance Management System (DLIMS) makes it easier to issue and renew driving licences across the province. Both of these have been developed by PITB. The organisation also created the Motor Transport Information Management System (MTMIS) for the Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department of Punjab, which focuses on vehicle registration and verification. All of the citizens of Punjab can also benefit from the Raasta App, which offers travel advisory, route planning, e-licencing, and other services to its users.
Citizen-Centric Services
Some of the services that have been made more accessible to citizens with the help of the Punjab Information Technology Board include e-stamping of legal papers, the establishment of e-Khidmat Centres across the province, the development of the ePay Punjab app, the creation of an Online Jobs Portal for Punjab, and many more. Citizens of Punjab can even register their business, provide feedback, and register complaints online via a range of innovative apps or web-based portals, all of which have been developed with the collaboration of the PITB.
Support Services
To support various government functions and departments, the organisation also offers data centres, office automation systems, training sessions, data warehousing, and several other tech-support services that help offices across the province perform their functions optimally.
Beyond Punjab
The Punjab Information Technology Board does not simply offer services within the province. It has helped with the complete automation of the Hajj process managed by the Federal Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, along with developing a Monitoring and Evaluation System for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It has also replicated its e-Vaccs app for both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while helping the Sindh Police in its move towards IT-based systems.
This is a fairly brief overview of the services offered by Punjab Information Technology Board to the province to innovate and create a Digital Punjab in all sectors but it shows the need for innovation and the importance of digitisation in today’s world to make processes quicker, accurate, and user-friendly.
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*[Cover Image Credits: Facebook/Arfa Software Technology Park Official]
