Anusha Rahman
Ms. Anusha Rahman, a Pakistani politician and professional with previous association with the ICT sector, is the current Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication in Pakistan.
Ms. Rahman has initiated a number of policy measures, projects and programs that have transformed Pakistani ICT markets and landscape to the next level of development. She has successfully overseen the auction of spectrum for the Next Generation Mobile Services (3G / 4G) bringing broadband penetration to a level of 19% from only 3% in early 2014. She aims at achieving 38% broadband penetration in the country by 2020.
Ms Rahman spearheaded the formulation of Telecom Sector Policy 2015 to address emerging trends in the sector and envisions availability of universal, affordable and quality telecommunication services provided through open and competitive markets for the benefit of people.
The Minister has rolled out several projects targeted at bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas of Pakistan, penetration of broadband and enabling access to telecommunication services to 90% of the population. She has set herself a target of 100% population coverage by 2018 and all connectivity initiatives going forward target Broadband services provision under the revamped “Broadband for Sustainable Development” initiative.
Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan has accorded many schemes to support young entrepreneurs and talented youth of Pakistan and her leadership and apt policy interventions have also led Pakistan to be among top five nations in terms of freelancing in IT products globally. The export of IT products has increased by 49% since 2013.
She has emerged as a very prominent figure globally in the development agenda of ICT sector. Under her dynamic leadership, Pakistan has been elected as member of the ITU Council and has also been awarded the “Spectrum for Mobile Broadband Award” by GSMA in 2015. For her ICT related initiatives she has been recognized as GEM-TECH 2015 Global Achiever by ITU & UN Women for her ICT policy initiatives. She is also a Commissioner and avid contributor to the digital agenda of the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.