Digital Democracy: A Workshop for the Members of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh

September 18, 2024 MEMBERS, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS

The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ), successfully hosted a workshop on “Digital Democracy” on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Sindh Assembly Secretariat, Karachi.

The event commenced with the opening remarks by Ms. Samer Awais, Director General (DG), PIPS, who introduced PIPS and its partnership with UNDP and CEJ to deliver training on digital democracy, social media, and combating misinformation. She expressed her gratitude to the participants, highlighting the success of a previous pilot session with National Assembly parliamentarians and underscoring the importance of gathering feedback to refine future training programs.

Ms. Awais also extended heartfelt thanks to the Honourable Speaker of the Sindh Assembly/Member Board of Governors, PIPS, Syed Awais Qadir Shah, acknowledging that the workshop would not have been possible without his unwavering support. She emphasized that PIPS deeply appreciated the Speaker’s commitment to advancing the digital capabilities of parliamentarians, which played a pivotal role in making the event a success.

Dr. Ali Al-Bayati, Chief Technical Advisor for SELP at UNDP, then took the floor, expressing his enthusiasm for the collaboration between PIPS and CEJ. He discussed the growing issue of misinformation and introduced iVerify Pakistan, a fact-checking platform designed to address this challenge. Dr. Ali encouraged the parliamentarians to utilize the platform and report any misleading information they encountered, emphasizing misinformation’s significant impact on society.

Before the main sessions began, a pre-survey was conducted to assess the participants’ knowledge of information manipulation and social media.

Farieha Aziz, a Karachi-based, APNS-award-winning journalist, and co-founder and Director at Bolo Bhi,led a session engaging the Members about their social media habits. Most participants mentioned using Facebook and TikTok, with some highlighting the use of WhatsApp channels during election campaigns. Farieha guided the discussion towards understanding voter demographics based on social media platform usage. Notable contributions came from Rehan Rajput of PTI, who shared insights on how Facebook META played a crucial role in their election campaign, and Muhammad Farooq of JI, who discussed the use of YouTube for voter engagement through video messages.

Farieha also addressed Ethical and Legal Concerns related to social media usage, offering practical advice on enabling safety settings, recovering lost data, understanding cookies, and turning off location services to prevent hacking and data breaches. Her session provided essential tips for securing digital devices and safeguarding personal information online.

Kamal Siddiqi , a prominent journalist and media expert, led a session focused on current social media trends in Pakistan, noting the rise of Instagram as a widely used platform. He discussed the dynamics of information manipulation and the rapid spread of false or manipulated content across social media. Kamal emphasized the importance of vigilance and critical thinking in consuming and sharing digital information, highlighting the role, misinformation played in shaping public opinion.

The event concluded with a discussion on how these insights could be applied to the Members’ digital engagement strategies, reinforcing the importance of responsible digital behavior in fostering informed, democratic discourse

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On the direction of the Chairman Senate/President PIPS Board of Governors, the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), has implemented a comprehensive set of measures aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and responsible utilization of public resources, on the same lines as notified and adopted by the Senate and National Assembly Secretariats.

Under the new measures, the Institute has adopted a four-day working week (Monday to Thursday), while introducing a hybrid working model whereby 50% of staff will perform duties from the office and 50% will work remotely on a rotational basis. Employees working from home will remain fully accessible through digital communication platforms and may be required to report to the office on short notice, ensuring uninterrupted institutional functioning.

Significant steps have also been taken to promote energy conservation. These include a target of achieving up to 70% reduction in energy consumption through minimizing unnecessary use of electricity and ensuring that official meetings, trainings, and events are scheduled during daylight hours. Foreign tours are banned and international meetings are being held virtually.

In the transport section, PIPS has introduced strict measures to curtail expenditure and 70% official vehicles have been grounded as part of this initiative.

As part of broader austerity efforts, 20% reduction has been imposed on the non-ERE budget for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The officers drawing a monthly salary of PKR 300,000 or more, shall surrendered two days salary or 5% to 30% salary on gross as per Federal Government decision.

The Institute has also discontinued all non-essential procurements with immediate effect. Official functions such as dinners and receptions will not be hosted, except in the case of visiting foreign delegations, and even then, strictly in accordance with austerity protocols.

These measures have been implemented with immediate effect and will remain in force until further orders.

Under the guidance of President PIPS Board of Governors, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PIPS remains fully committed to maintaining its core functions of parliamentary support, capacity building, and research while contributing proactively to national austerity and sustainability goals.

Digital Democracy: A Workshop for the Members of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh

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