Preamble:
Everysphere of human life and communication is undergoing alteration, transformationand modernization with the advent of the Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs), commonly defined as a tool used in creation, processing,transferring and sharing of information. The ICTs have proven to beindispensible tools for not just the human development but also fightingagainst the poverty, injustice and transforming the economic, social andpolitical spheres alike. They have changed the course of human developmentproviding unprecedented opportunity by penetrating into activities outside the‘production’; reshaping the markets, leisure time, access of information andservices etc while developing a strong sense of democracy.
ModernICTs include World Wide Web, Internet, E-mail, software applications, cellphone, video conferencing etc. (Bergh & McKenna, 2004). However, thediffusion and spread of the ICT worldwide has been receiving a mixed response,creating a digital divide. Digital divide in simple words would be theinequality of ICT utilization (Evers & Greke, 2004). The term Digital Divide is a new name givento the information haves and have-nots used for the preceding generation. It isgap assumed to exist between people having access to the modern informationtechnology and those to whom it is not accessible, between developed anddeveloping or under-developed countries, males and females, rural and urbanetc.
TheCivil Society is denied the effective utilizing of ICT due to lack of requiredinfrastructure, lack of open source tools, dearth of trained IT professionals,inaccessibility of ICT to general population, and the effects of onlineinitiatives in reality etc… This paper is attempting to investigate the utilizationof ICT with a perspective of an alternative option for disseminatinginformation and mobilizing the civil society in Pakistan.
Theuse of the ICT’s World Wide Web, in particular the social media; twitter andfacebook, cell phones and SMS have demonstrated an interdependence andinter-relation with digital technology and new media at an international level,and have also resulted in enhancement of interest in the social movementtheory. The ways in which ICTs are utilized and understood are being changed byemerging social movements. According to Goodwin and Jasper (2003, p.7),“research on social movements will undoubtedly continue to evolve as socialmovements themselves evolve.”
For the purpose of definition, wemay refer to social change as a process that brings about a transformation insocial, political, and economic power structure in a society. It may not be forpoor, or positive for that matter, and depends on individual politicalperceptions. However, the pro-poor process of social transformation will be theone that results in a more even power & resource distribution in thesociety ensuring basic civil rights for the people and enabling the stateinstitutions to provide protection to those fundamental rights.
The followingdiscussion is a preliminary effort at framing the debate around the need ofresearching the use of ICTs by the civil society in Pakistan; a generalunderstanding of the situation concerning a digital divide that may, or may notexists as a result of the utilization of ICT as an alternative landscape. Anattempt shall also be made to answer the questions like how ICTs are being usedby Pakistan’s civil society for mobilizing the masses, and the effectiveness ofthe mobilization of masses through internet in the Pakistani political andcultural arena. Also how can the utilization of ICT’s help increase thetransformative nature of their work that can trigger long-term social change inthe country.
Social Movementsa Historical View:
Before,delving into the discussion of the power the present day ICT’s enjoys and itsorganization of social movements a historical summary of social movements willhelp us understand the subject at hand better.
Itis a tough task even difficult to achieve with the help of documentation takingplace over a century to define social movements in terms of what they are, howthey play a part in organizing for mobilization of people and resources, and inwhat ways social movements culminate. However, taking up Goodwin and Jasper(2003, p. 4), definition for social movements can bring us closer to achievethe task; social movements are a “complex sets of groups, organizations, andactions that may have different goals as well as different strategies forreaching their aims… [and can help] comprehend human diversity.” Also, socialmovements “are a main source of political conflict and change” (Giugni, 1999,p. xx).
“Untilthe 1960s, most scholars who studied social movements were frightened of them.They saw them as dangerous mobs who acted irrationally [...]” (Goodwin &Jasper 2003, p. 5). The economic turnaround of 1965 resulted in a change inthis perception when the elite and the powerful themselves startedparticipating in social movements. During the decade of seventies, noteworthytheories were proposed and were termed as the resource mobilization (RM)theory. (Goodwin & Jasper, 2003, p. 6) According to Buechler (1993, p.193), RM has been “[...] the dominant theoretical framework for analyzingsocial movements and collective action within the discipline of sociology.” (p.200) also comments that this theory ignores the macro-level social structure aswell as individual motivation, and focuses only on the organizational analysisat meso-level, which is its major short-coming. The social movements startedshowing political glimpses and involvement of state-actors, giving shape to thepolitical process (PP) model, proposing that elites belonging toinstitutionalized organizations and opportunities provided by the state giverise to the social movements. It is influenced by Marxist theory in some ways.As McAdam (1997, p. 172) comments, they are political phenomena and must beevaluated as a “continuous process from generation to decline.” Munson (2001),while discussing the opportunities concept states that the PP “[...] modelsuggests that mobilization can take place only under favourable politicalconditions and focuses on the relationship between social movements andpolitical institutions to understand movement mobilization.”
The social movement theory wentthrough a cultural shift during the 1980s, and challenges were thrown at PP andRM theories on the pretext that these while taking into account organizationand resources, do not consider the role that culture plays in collectiveaction. This resulted in a reaction from the social movement academicians which in every sense was an indicator of the paradigmshift to cultural from structural analysis of collective action (Tarrow,1998).
Constructivistand post-modern theories made an impact on models like the new social movementtheory, proposed by Jamison and Eyerman (1997) mainly focusing on interactionand communication amongst individuals and in the society, while approaching theissues of transformation and development. Jamison and Eyerman (1997, p. 251)consider social movements as producers of knowledge. The idea of collectiveaction as proposed by the new social movement theory, suggests that it may“fill gaps in resource mobilization and political process accounts of theemergence, trajectories, and impacts of social movements.” (Polletta &Jasper, 2001).
Ina postmodern world, social change theories are needed to grasp and understandthe subtext and analyse the other side of the story not presented by themainstream corporate media, as it is marred by the capitalist ideologypresenting only the story of a global capitalism, an economic system andhegemonic triumph. These social change theories help us answer pertinentquestion related to why individuals organize in groups and follow a certaingoal or objective which can alter the society. It is important to ask thesequestions, but, posing questions in a systematicmanner is extremely critical. The social change theories serve as guides toboth the policy creators and professionals.
Social change theories are a progressiontowards the transformation of the power relations, appearing either naturallyor through a collective effort developed in resistance to oppression. It wasduring the eighteenth century when many a social movements raised their headscreating ripples through history by changing the course of individualinteraction with power. This interaction has impacted the modern world and hadengaged individual in a political process to carve a meaningful and effectiveway to resist oppression. The concept of political economy was not directlyassociated to the field of communications initially until Harold Innis, Adornoand Horkheimer’s work elaborated and put forth the concepts of ‘monopolies ofknowledge’ and ‘culture industry’ respectively; producing mass deception andcontrol of certain social groups over the means of communication.
The factorsinvolved in the societal change are generally identified as politicalinfluences: associated with the state; cultural influences: changing ourattitudes and behaviour affecting the value systems and social structures(Giddens and Duneier, 2000); and the economic influences; based on the Marxiananalysis of the dialectical relation of the economic base and superstructure.However, at an individual level Becker (2001) points out, that a behavioural change may occur through a positiveintention and commitment only. Although to practice this positive change inbehaviour the environmental constraints have to be at bare minimum, personalstandard and self image to be maintained and the advantages of the outcomeshould outweigh the disadvantages (Backer, 2001).
What conditionsfoster social movements and social change has been a point at debate for yearsnow. Although one thing is certain, groups play an important role in eitherencouraging or discouraging the social change and the social movements. Marxalleged that social movements or revolution are a result of opposition andinexplicable economic and other social tensions in a society. Revolutions didnot happen in all advanced industrial society as Marx predicted. On thecontrary, theories suggest that social uproar has more chances of occurring insocieties with improving living conditions leading to higher individualexpectations, and not in those which are poverty-ridden. In other words,relative deprivation results in social movements (Davies, 1962).
When people donot have any institutionalized means of raising their voice, or when governmentoppression is present curbing the public opinion, collective action and ofsocial mobilization are the by-products. The operation of social controldetermines the way in which a social movement develops. Tourine (1977, 1981)suggests that social movements may not necessarily be the responses tosituations, but may result as an abrupt or spontaneous effort to bring aboutthe social change. Thus he suggests that promoting the idea of social activismand its interaction with social movement is more important.
Thesocial movement theories were traditionally viewed with a Marxian perspectiveof a class bias, however, during recent times, a paradigm shift triggered thiscollective action from a cultural standpoint. Before addressing the genesis andanalyzing the paradigm shift of the social movement theory from a structural toa cultural perspective, it is apt to define the term globalization here.
Theterm Globalisation has become an all encompassing paradigm for the socialsciences; however the available literature on globalisation suggests that theterm has to have acquired certain imperialistic characteristics. Scholars andacademics alike for years have added their own perspectives to define the term,however here we will flesh out only those which serves our topic the most. Beckdefined globalization as a “processes through which sovereign national statesare criss-crossed and undermined by transnational actors with varying prospectsof power, orientations, identities and networks” (2003, p. 11). Smith (2000)added the political, societal, and economic relation perspectives to theprocess of globalization. However the understanding of globalization aspresented by Appadurai’s (1996) is the most relevant here. It considers theprocess to be an inter-societal relationship facilitated by the electronicmedia and the global mobility, which “transforms pre-existing worlds ofcommunication and conduct”, creating “diasporic public spheres, a phenomenathat confound theories that depend on the continued salience of thenation-state as the key arbiter of important social changes” (p. 4).
Tarrow(1998) points out that it’s also the facilitation of globalization of protestand not only the globalization of capital, providing a subsequent boost to thetransnational collective action. Although there is no denying that globalizationis both dominating and exploitative and has served the interests of the anelite minority, yet the “new information technologies [...] appear not just asinstruments for the circulation of commodities, but simultaneously as channelsfor the circulation of struggles” (Dyer Witheford, 1999, p. 128).
The New Social Movement Theory:
The research on social movements increased its scope during the 21stcentury to include the analysis of collective activism at a global level. Atthat point in time, the frameworks of social networks were included in theresearch to help explain the development of social movements. As argued byLangman (2005), the emergence of ICT has resulted in rise of different and newkinds of social movements. The rapid emergence and magnitude of “virtual publicspheres” and “internet-oriented social movements” has given rise to new querieswarranting a revisit of the social movement theory.
Ithas been seen over years that the key to success for the social movement liesin the process of mobilization of the masses. Although, informationdissemination and communication are the two integral parts of the process tobring about the change, organization, mobilization of resources, commoninterests, and opportunity are the rest of the integral ingredients needed tomobilize groups for collective action. Tilly (1978). However, unlessfacilitated by leadership, uninterrupted communication, availability of fundsand material resources, even these four essential conditions may not guaranteea social movement.
The development of socialmovement theory travelled a trajectory from the structural to cultural analysiswhere the concept of culture is utilized as an analytical and theoretical tool.Activist used this tool to investigate the collective action of the societymediated through culture made the activist turn to “identity politics.” Scholars increasingly amongst the activists, concernedwith identity got involved with all facets of culture. This shiftdenotes two distinctive standpoints, the political activism which seeks tobring about a change at the structural level and activism with the subjectiveexperience of an individual in the world as its prime focus. Although focusingon identity primarily has raised question from scholars in class and powerstructures context.
As discussed above in the paper,to bring about a social change human agency either in an individual orcollective form is the key. In the modern era, or the network society socialidentity and identity based movements are the new mantra. Identity is both ahistorical and cultural phenomenon which rises to the centre stage in a networksociety for the development of social change. Castells’ sees the identity’srole in development of the society instead of considering it just as a form ofa consequential tradition in a Marxist world. Castells’ proposed that identitybuilding is a dynamic process and proposed that “who[ever] constructs collectiveidentity, and for what, largely determines the symbolic content of thisidentity, and its meaning for those identifying with it or placing themselvesoutside of it” (Castells’, 1997, p. 7).
He goes on to identify identitiesto be of three types; legitimizing, resistance, and project identity. However,for the purpose of this paper we will briefly discuss the resistance identityonly, but later elaborate on it with the help of an example.
ResistanceIdentity:
Resistance identity is a grassroot level collective identity formation extended by those social actors whoare being excluded by the civil society and other dominant institutions of thesociety. These communes bring together the excluded and the denounced to gain acollective experience as a survival strategy amidst otherwise intolerablecondition of oppression. The communities formed as a result of the resistanceidentity do not mobilize within the parameters of the civil society, but remainmarginalized and pronounced ‘the others’ (Castells’, 1997, p. 10-12). Thesecommunities are formed around a common meaning and are probably the mostdominant identities of our times which provide an opportunity toindividuals who shares social experience to process their thoughts towards newsocial utopias and strategies.
These communities originatingfrom grass root level do not just stop here as fragments of the society but,they become a force that transform the society. However, what conditionsaggravate these transformations is a question which Castells’ tries to answer.Castells’ observes that these resistance based communities cannot mobilizeunless they create a network of their own and then become a network themselves.This serves not only as a precondition to survive and cooperate within thecommunities serving towards achieving the same goal, but also as a necessity tooperate in a virtual media. As Castells’ points out that power in the networkedsociety is due to its diffused hierarchical architecture is not something whichthe social actors have to struggle for as rigorously as in the traditionalsetups.
Social development cannot comeabout without the support of a sound technological infrastructure, thus bothbeing inseparable. Castells’ (1996) in support of the social changes andtechnological changes argue: “since technology is society and societycannot be understood or represented without its technological tools” (p.5).
Entering Networks:
The network society emerges when theglobal information capitalism met the new technological revolution to becomesocially organized and a flow and transaction of information, wealth andculture takes place in real time between nation states superseding theirsovereignty.
McAdam(1997, p. 179) observes, “the ability of insurgents to generate a socialmovement is ultimately dependent on the presence of an indigenous’infrastructure’ that can be used to link members of the aggrieved populationinto an organized campaign of mass political action.” Nonetheless, we would notbe under-stating the facts by saying that the social networks are theinfrastructure, which act as the foundation for a new political agency(Marchetti & Pianta, 2006).
Aredefinition of the social movements from a network perspective would be:“[S]ocial movements are represented by campaigns run by civil societyorganizations, and a social movement could be defined as ‘a network of informalinteractions between a plurality of individuals, groups and/or organizations,engaged in a political or cultural conflict, on the basis of a sharedcollective identity.”’ (Steve Wright as cited in Saeed, Rohde & Wulf 2008).
Passyand Giugni (2001) found that networks accomplish three tasks for socialmovements. First they connect prospective participants structurally to anopportunity to take part. The participants are socialized to an issue forprotest. And in the end, a participant finally decides to participate.According to Tilly (2003, p. 
suggests that, “compared [to] the 20th century,internationally organized networks of activists, international non-governmentalorganizations, and internationally visible targets such as multinationalcorporations and international financial institutions all figure moreprominently in recent social movements”.
suggests that, “compared [to] the 20th century,internationally organized networks of activists, international non-governmentalorganizations, and internationally visible targets such as multinationalcorporations and international financial institutions all figure moreprominently in recent social movements”.Networksare an essential part of how the global justice movements and contemporaryactivism organize and unfolds themselves. An important part of the globaljustice movements are transnational advocacy networks, which albeit workinternationally on common projects and issues yet share common values anddiscourse (Keck & Sekkink, 1998). The purpose of these networks is toprovide an alternative channel for communication and “mobilize informationstrategically to help create new issues and categories and to persuade, pressure,and gain leverage over much more powerful organizations and governments” (p.2).
Social Movementsand ICT’s:
Technology hasplayed a vital role in the mobilization process (Donk et al, 2004) with printmedia used as a main tool for the dissemination of information in theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and radio and television broadcasting isassociated with the twentieth century (Langman, 2005). ICTs brought with it newforms of communication such as SMS, Emails, online advocacy and petitioncampaigns which not just helped further the mobilization process (Surman &Reilly, 2003) but also helped with themagnitude and speed (Diani, 2000). However, the actual impact of these virtualactivities prescribed through in a virtual sphere may not hold much credencedue of lack of achieving the intended purpose (Diani, 2000).
The socialmovements are computer mediated communication dependent on huge networksinstrumental in bringing about the social change. The sparks of virtualresistance were first recorded in 1998 as a conflict between an internet basedcompany and Multilateral Agreement in Investment (MAI) which although turnedout as a failure then, due to various political reasons, but scholarsconcluded, social groups armed with internet technology can carry outsuccessful protests (Aelstand et al, 2004). Later in the early 1990s, theZapatista movement were amongst the initial social movements utilizing theinternet. These were followed by protests against WTO in Seattle and Genoataking place in 1999, which was hugely supported by ICTs like short messageservice (SMS) and emails, resulting in mobilization of a successful protestthrough internet for the first time (Langman, 2005). Today, internet has ahistory of almost 7 years of successful mass mobilization and informationdisbursement.
Thesedevelopments, led the scholars to look into how and in what ways the ICT’s areused, how cyber activism plays a role in this movement for peace, and howtechnology and mass communication are being utilized as a tool for mobilizationby modern-day social movements.
Internet isalthough considered as an informal, unstructured and decentralized organizationyet has resulted in a significant power-relations restructuring sometimes by(McAdam, 1997, p. 178) reversing those power relations. Internet apparentlybrings up a new type of public sphere making the chances of restricting accessand resources comparatively less. As argued by McAdam (1997, p. 180), thestrength and breadth of a communication network broadly decides the pace,pattern, and scope of expansion of a movement. The emergence of socialnetworking sites like Facebook and spread of instant messaging etc has seendevelopment and spread of resources that meet those requirements. According toSaeed, Rohde, and Wulf (2008), “ICTs have tremendous potential to serve astools for information dissemination and organizing protest along withtraditional mobilization methodologies for social movements.” Civilsocieties in developing countries have clearly started to be transformedthrough the impact of ICTs and effects show the much needed transformationthrough radical changes are taking place creating new opportunities.
Civil Society inPakistan:
The progress of Pakistani governmentfalls short of its own policy targets when it comes to progressing in humandevelopment and providing sufficiently for the basic survival indicators. Thishas resulted in emergence of a conscious and active civil society disappointedwith the state and taking charge of uplifting and transforming the situation intheir country. In generic terms, the civil society refers to formal or informalcitizen groups, networks and initiatives appearing in the context of social, cultural,and economic arenas. The limited utilization of information technology by thecivil society in Pakistan can be gauged by the fact that most of theorganizations are yet to have an active websites. The campaigns started by thecivil society usually represent initiation of a social movement, which can bedefined as “a network of informal interactions between a plurality ofindividuals, groups and/or organizations, engaged in a political or culturalconflict, on the basis of a shared collective identity.” (Wright, 2004). A hostof problems including social, economic, political and those related to theissues of governance pose threat to the country, indicating an immediate needof an effective advocacy movement by the civil society for promoting economic &social justice in Pakistan. Considering the increasing incidences of terrorismlimiting the possibility of ground-level activism, the ICTs can become a viableand effective alternative.
ICT Infrastructure in Pakistan:
Understandingfacts such as literacy rates and elements of infrastructure before we make anattempt at determining the impact of cyber-culture in the country is pertinent.Pakistan is a country which is home to around 170 million people. The literacyrate is 69% for men and 45% for women and is continuously growing according toPakistan Economic Survey of 2009-2010. The penetration of cellular phones now stands at a staggering 97.2million in 2010, which is much more than 50% of population according toPakistan Telecommunication Authority. With the commencement of a project in 1993 called SDNPK (SustainableDevelopment Networking Program) in Islamabad, funded by UNDP witnessed thebeginning of internet in the country. The primary objective of such aninitiation was to extend email services to the people providing support toprojects related to sustainable development, NGOs and others. The birth ofinternet industry in Pakistan was marked by the launch of online internetservice by DIGICOM in Karachi in 1994-95. In 2008, PTA reported 22 millioninternet users in Pakistan, out of which 14 million are connected to broadbandconnections. Ninety percent of people who use internet in Pakistan live in themajor towns, though it is rapidly penetrating to smaller towns as well. Thereare now 128 active ISPs (Internet Service Providers) in Pakistan.
Digital Dividein Pakistani Civil Society:
The emergence ofinformation technology has revolutionized the life in Pakistan like the rest ofthe world. Having said that, a deeper analysis reveals an important issue whichprevents the benefits of IT from reaching large strata of population, and thatissue is what we call a digital divide. Although the internet connections inPakistan have increased from 133,000 in the year 2000 to 18,500,000 in the year2010 representing 10% penetration, but is that growth evenly diffused acrosspopulation? This is something which would provide a solid ground to assess thepossible impact especially in terms of social development and social movementsin the country. On the face of it, we come across Pakistani commercialorganization boasting state-of-the-art websites, corporate blogs, Facebookgroups/pages, and personalized emails for employees indicating a major role ITis playing in the functioning of those outfits. However, there are many moreorganizations which are lagging far behind in utilizing the fascinatingbenefits IT offers. This again represents the digital divide we would like tounderstand.
This issue wastaken up in a ground-breaking study (Saeed, Rohde, Wolf University of Siegen,Germany), which analyzed the use of IT in Pakistani civil society. Theresearcher chose to work on the civil society in view of the important partinformation technology plays in their functioning. To make their analysisobjective and empirical, they selected 15 NGOs from less developed areas in allthe four provinces of Pakistan. A survey was conducted to gain insights, andthe findings this study revealed shed light on the issue we are discussing.
Let us firsthave a look at the key findings before we can get to a position of drawingconclusions:
· Eightout of fifteen sample organizations did not employ an IT professional.
· Eightorganizations had zero or negligible budget for IT.
· Noneof the organizations had a formal mailing list, which is so crucial consideringthe importance of people mobilization in operations of an NGO.
· Nineorganizations did not have their own website and out of those who had, only onewas updated regularly.
· Onlyone organization was doing online campaigning.
· Oneorganization was utilizing social media.
· Oneorganization was maintaining online volunteers’ database.
· Oneorganization was using options like video conferencing etc. to connect to donoragencies while the rest at the best were using emails to communicate to them.
· Sixout of fifteen organizations utilized emails to communicate to governmentfunctionaries, which also reflect the state of government departments in termsof IT usage.
The above factsclearly indicate that with all the IT explosion we witness at the surface, deepdown there is a large segment of the society, which is nowhere in sight ofmaking use of the information technology like it is meant to be.
The main reasonsfor this digital divide as described by the study are dearth of trainedprofessionals, and lack of financial resources. It must also have something towith willingness of the decision-makers but we cannot undermine the importanceof the two responsible factors identified by the researchers.
If we attempt totake leads from this insightful study, there seems to be a clear need ofgovernment intervention at the policy level. Actions are required to make thediffusion of technology more uniform, initiate projects leading to lower costof hardware and software, public/private partnerships on educational front, andincentives for small to medium size organizations, both commercial andnon-profit sector to bridge the digital divide and spread the benefits of IT tothe general population uniformly.
ICTand Social Movement in Pakistan an example:
Herewe will look into a recent anti-government movement taking place in Pakistan toget a basic impression of the utilization of ICT by the civil society inPakistan. The movement known as the Lawyers movement received participationfrom activists, students, lawyers, politicians, and general public alike. Thisresulted in the declaration of a state of emergency and suspension ofPakistan’s constitution by General Pervez Musharraf, the Chief of Army Staff onNovember 03, 2007. This was followed by initiation of major changes injudiciary and extreme censorship of private news media. The situation pushedthe civil society towards virtual battlefield and the first major movement,which can be termed cyber-activism emerging in Pakistan. The TV channels defiedcensorship by using websites to disseminate information and also to broadcastnews and video footage. Social networking websites like Facebook and Orkut werewidely utilized to mobilize public. The footage of organized protests anddiscussions was widely uploaded at YouTube and Google Videos. Bulk emails,online petitions, tweets, SMS, and blogs were widely used as well forcoordination and disseminating information. Government attempted to block thewebsites but the public resorted to the use of free online anonymizer tools tokeep accessing the sites. (Yusuf, 2007).
Although, the above scenario indicates an optimumuse of ICT during this movement, but there is still a need for extensiveresearch on the civil society in Pakistan to correctly assess the extent ofparticipation in the virtual domain. Preliminary analysis however indicatesthat the bulk of online resources utilized during this movement was initiatedand managed by Pakistanis living abroad.
Through this example we have seen how the citizenjournalists and advocates of democracy have utilized the new media options anddigital technologies for hyper-local reports and organizing community. Alongwith the developed, the developing and the third world too are not a passiveconsumer market anymore as new media platforms are becoming popular and thecommunication tools are being reinvented to make consumers, the media producersand participants interact online and discuss prevailing issues.
The popularity of new media in Pakistan can howeverbe attributed for a need to have access to information rather than an urge toparticipate. The new media was actually cultivated to bridge the informationgap and keep the news and information flowing when the traditional media facedobstructions. In a way, the survival of old media in Pakistan was helped by thenew media. This process gave rise to a phenomenon through which the informationreaches the audience through conventional, as well as the new media platformwith the use of digital technology so it cannot be censored or tampered by thegovernment. Today with active amateurs and activists, any news items can findit ways to SMS, twitter, YouTube and blogs from mainstream media almostinstantly. However, we would be making a mistake to conclude that digitaltechnology and new media alternatives are confined in their use to onlyinformation dissemination and organizing community by high-profile activistsand educated citizen journalists. In fact, some of the best examples of usingnew media and digital platform are for addressing local issues, and are ad-hoc,adaptive and specific to cultural realities. For example, people now are seenutilizing such options very effectively to either navigate traffic duringmonsoon, informing people in wake of terrorist activities, and otherincidences.
This demonstrates how common men with commitment andwillingness to serve their community can be extremely effective in addressinglocal problems once they lay their hands on the powerful new media and digitaltechnology. The new media and digital technology is becoming so relevant in thesituation prevailing in Pakistan that the digital divide and participation gapis being bridged in unfamiliar and unpredictable, but sustainable ways due tosheer pervasiveness. We can confidently anticipate that this rapid emergence ofnew media and digital technology in developing countries like Pakistan willsoon lead to development of new tools and interfaces in local languages andwith greater relevance in local culture, which will in turn, surely increasethe participation from general public, and will result in networking, communitymobilization, and activism in virtual sphere like never before. Although theneed for further research about the extent of public participation by peoplebased in Pakistan and the underlying patterns should not be ignored. Anotherfactors requiring investigation is that whether the emergence of cyber activismis actually strengthening the civil society, or is leaving out a major part ofpopulation that resides in rural areas and is largely not a part of thecyber-world. The socio-economic background and dimensions of a region cannot beignored while evaluating the impact on the real life by the movements takingplace online. And most importantly, how the structure of social movements is affectedby the emergence of digital media is worth researching.
Conclusion:
Keeping the above discussed example in mind, we needto make sure that there is spread of information technology at an affordablecost to the general public. The benefits of which would spread in many ways;for example people can have access to services which improve their productivityand reduce the cost of what they produce, keep themselves aware of thepossibilities emerging in their field of activity, take advantage of online educationaland training possibilities, make their voice reach to a greater audienceregardless of the purpose, make informed decisions, andon the whole be more profitable and gain more return on their investment andefforts.
As discussed above, one of the major determinant ofemergence and success of ICT is rapid diffusion of technology across thepopulation. However certain work needs to be done in this area and can beachieved by reducing the cost of hardware and connectivity, and developingsoftware in Urdu, which is the National language of Pakistan so as to bridgethe gap that the use of a foreign language creates, special for the populationwhose medium of education hasn’t been English even though they may not beilliterate as such.
Although it is perfectly understandable that if acountry has to buy proprietary software for initialization of IT projects, theprogress will always remain limited. Pakistan now has a large number of privateuniversities offering quality education in computer science and softwaredevelopment, and a campaign at national level, preferably initiated by theMinistry of Communication in line with the national IT objectives can surelygenerate new software and those too in local languages to spread the use ofinternet based technology, which is actually the future of IT. Unless a seriousunderstanding of this issue and determined steps are taken in the rightdirection, we may keep lagging behind in spreading the benefits of IT to ourpeople. However, the unfortunate fact that Pakistan is largely dependent onimported hardware is a major hindrance in the spread of use of personalcomputers. The most useful machine remains unaffordable for the majority ofpopulation, and even the government educational institutions cannot buy enoughdue to limited resources. The sooner Pakistan goes into local manufacturing ofcomputers and software development, the better for the future of utilization ofinformation technology in the country.
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