ICT, AI, scientific and technological skills can empower youth in Pakistan by providing them with opportunities to access decent jobs, create innovative solutions, and participate in the digital economy and society. Some of the benefits of these skills are:
They can help youth to access online platforms and services that offer learning, employment, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement opportunities.
They can enable youth to develop digital products and services that address local and global challenges, such as health, education, agriculture, and environment.
They can enhance youth’s productivity, creativity, and competitiveness in the labor market, as well as their ability to adapt to changing demands and technologies.
They can foster youth’s participation and inclusion in the digital society, as well as their awareness and responsibility for ethical and social issues related to ICT and AI.
Some of the strategies to employ Pakistani youth through these skills are the following:
Improving the quality and relevance of education and training systems to equip youth with foundational, technical, and soft skills that are aligned with the current and future needs of the economy and society.
Providing youth with access to digital infrastructure, devices, and connectivity, especially in rural and marginalized areas, to enable them to use ICT and AI for learning and work.
Supporting youth’s transition from education to employment through career guidance, mentoring, internships, apprenticeships, and job placement services that leverage ICT and AI.
Promoting youth entrepreneurship and innovation through incubation, acceleration, mentoring, funding, and networking programmes that foster the development of digital start-ups and solutions.
Strengthening the collaboration and coordination among stakeholders from the public, private, academic, civil society, and international sectors to create an enabling ecosystem for youth skills development and employment in the digital era.
Therefore, it’s the obligation of the federal and provincial governments to ensure provision of functional training of these skills to the youth. If, once youth learn the art of these skills, they can easily be employed among various public and private sectors. Furthermore, developing business enterprises on these skills can ensure better international business penetration & more foreign remittances accordingly.
