How Tania Aidrus Plans To Transform Pakistan's Digital Landscape

She spent most of her life outside Pakistan, studying at the world's best institutions and operating at the forefront of the global tech business. But now she is back in her native country, driven to change its digital landscape forever.

Tania Aidrus, a former Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Initiatives on the Next Billion Users (NBU) team at Google, left her position a few months ago to manage PM Imran Khan's 'Digital Pakistan' Project. In her own words, she aspires to “put Pakistan on the map” as far as technology and innovation were involved.

Aidrus' work and education

Tania holds an MBA degree from the prestigious MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSc from Brandeis University. Before becoming a Google executive, Tania co-founded a mobile health diagnosis business named ClickDiagnostics which united rural patients in developing markets to specialists around the globe. She has also led the Global Business Organisation at Google in the US and in Singapore, where she was the Country Director for South Asian Frontier Markets at Google.

Before becoming a Google executive, Tania co-founded a mobile health diagnosis business named ClickDiagnostics which united rural patients in developing markets to specialists around the globe.

During her address at the inaugural ceremony of the 'Digital Pakistan' action, Tania recollected how she had been reached by the prime minister's team to manage the arduous plan. “An acquaintance I knew told the prime minister about me, and he sent an email to his reformation team to reach me,” she stated. “Over the next few months, I was in touch with Mr Jahangir Tareen and members of the federal council. I even visited the President before I met Prime Minister Imran Khan and considered the project,” she answered.

Tania stated that the Pakistani diaspora across the planet needed to contribute to the nation and serve it.

“I spent 20 years outside Pakistan,” she stated. “I went overseas with a powerful narrative about Pakistan. Some say that I am politically connected to some individuals; however, that is not the case, and I don't have a connection with anyone in the state. My goal is simple: I want Pakistan to succeed,” she added.

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Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI and @JahangirKTareen for giving me the opportunity to contribute back to Pakistan. With everyone's support we will inshallah make #DigitalPakistan vision a reality.

As the PM says "ghabrana naheen hai" 😁

— Tania Aidrus (@taidrus) December 5, 2019

Five Principal Areas Pakistan needs to work upon

First area: Accessibility and Connectivity

Tania responded that she had recognised five principal zones where the state needed to create 'building blocks' and centralised policies from the highest order. She told that the principal among these operations was the accessibility and connectivity support. “An officer posted in Siachen gets one occasion a week to talk to his family members,” she stated. “I want to guarantee that whenever he connects to his family via a video call, he can do so without any problems.”

Second area: Digital Infrastructure

She then talked about the next key focus, which was improving the country's digital foundation. “Just like one needs the road base in a nation, Pakistan needs a digital infrastructure,” she said. “To progress in the tech environment, we need to have a digital infrastructure in house.”

Third area: E-governance

Tania then recognised the critical third pillar: E-governance. She said that the incumbent administration had been chosen in the hope of transparency. “The best method to secure transparency is to digitise government processes,” she replied. “Nowadays, people have a huge hassle when it comes to property documentation and other processes. We are required to digitise these.”

Credits: Geo.TV

Fourth Area: Digital Training and Skill

Tania distinguished the crucial fourth pillar of the digitisation process: Digital Training and Skill. She conversed about how colleges in Pakistan were not educating students about technology. Tania stated that by the period students who graduated from universities in Pakistan, they were incapable of competing with the global business paradigm.

Fifth Area: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Tania then articulated the fifth and last pillar the government needed to work on: Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “We are required to build an environment where entrepreneurship and innovation take place.” “The state needs to make it easy for investors and entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan. We need to draw businesses that are worth billions of dollars,” she said.

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Powerful Message

She stated that Pakistan directed acquisitions of at least rupees three trillion each year. “We need to see how much we can store from these Rs 3 trillion,” she continued. She had an exceptional message for sceptics in the end. “To the sceptics I state, it is not a subject of whether we will win or not but a question of how swiftly we can,” she said.

PM Imran launches 'Digital Pakistan' campaign

PM Imran started the 'Digital Pakistan' campaign on Thursday as a part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government's digitisation programme directed at offering the latest technologies for public well-being. The inauguration celebration was at the Prime Minister's Office in Islamabad. The prime minister also discussed the ceremony, saying that digitising Pakistan is necessary for the development of the country's youth. He also said that the world has been growing while Pakistan has mostly faltered.

Tania Aidrus, a former Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Initiatives on the Next Billion Users (NBU) team at Google, left her position a few months ago to manage PM Imran Khan's 'Digital Pakistan' Project.

“Digital Pakistan will be the government's highest priority. It will unleash the potential of the children. Pakistan has the second largest population of youth, and it can become into strength through digital work,” stated the premier. “Women can contribute to this area as well and get jobs,” stated the prime minister. PM Imran said that e-commerce and e-governance could transform the face of an organisation.

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Image: Geo.TV

Saumya Rastogi is an intern with SheThePeople.TV