Flawed flood relief dashboard: Comparison of Pakistan, India IT ministers

The federal government has failed to develop a much-needed flood relief dashboard as it lacked real-time updates and international standards which led Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reject inaugurating the dashboard.

PM Shehbaz Sharif raised objections to the ‘useless’ flood relief dashboard designed by the IT ministry and said, “If real-time information doesn’t arrive in this then it’s of no use. Then we are wasting each other’s time. I’m not going to inaugurate this today,” he said when informed that data from the meteorological department was not yet integrated with the dashboard.

“This should be trashed,” he said, calling it a “joke”. “I’m not negating your effort but this is not the dashboard we all imagined. This is a stationary thing in which you fill in figures,” Dawn News reported.

The prime minister mentioned a different dashboard that monitors dengue hotspots and said it provided “active information” and was based on a “proper structure”.

At one point, Iqbal tried to placate the premier by reasoning that the information on the portal could not be displayed in real time because it was dependent on information from the provincial disaster management authorities.

However, Shehbaz cut the minister midway, “but sir […] you will find out who is providing the information and who is not […] at best, this can be called a static dashboard.”

“But still, dashboards are a work in progress […],” Iqbal, once again, tried to pacify the prime minister. “They have developed a tool in a short time but as we go on more data will be uploaded.”

But Shehbaz was adamant that the dashboard couldn’t meet international standards and failed to show the colossal damage suffered during the floods. “This (flood dashboard) is not something the nation or I want. It lacks in many ways [and] it is deficient to our requirement,” the prime minister said as he reprimanded the officials concerned.

He also complained that the dashboard was not fast enough, adding that a lagging portal would not reflect the loss suffered due to the floods as well as the government’s efforts to mitigate their fallout.

The prime minister said that with upcoming international conventions and moots on the horizon, he wanted the dashboard to be of a certain standard and in line with modern expectations.

Here, Haque assured the PM that all his instructions had been noted. “We will try to modify this [the dashboard] and make it better. I request you to inaugurate it today and we will make it better,” he said. The IT minister also went up to the stage to talk during the official briefing ceremony.

Subsequently, Shehbaz suggested that the project could be “provisionally” launched today but officially launched next Monday after incorporating his suggestions and criticisms.

Comparison of Pakistan, India IT ministers

The failure in development of a flood relief dashboard was an embarrassing moment for the authorities concerned, however, the lack of capabilities was the prime reason for such failures, said analysts.

On the official website of Pakistan’s IT ministry, the profile of Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haque showed nothing but his contact numbers and address. There were no details provided regarding his relevant expertise in the IT sector.

On the other hand, the Indian Minister for State for Electronics and IT Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s profile on the official website read his complete educational and professional achievements.

The Indian IT minister is a MIT graduate and completed his post-graduation from Illinois Institute of Technology while he also attended various programmes at Harvard University, Stanford University and Visvesvaraya Technological University.

Analysts said if we try to gauge the seriousness of the governments in both countries then the expertise and profiles of both IT ministers should be compared.

An IT expert Waqas Ahmed wrote on Twitter, “”This dashboard lacks in many ways. Deficent to our req. Nation doesnt need it. Its slow aswell. Tell me one point where it functional. No hot spots. Its just static. Not real time.” @CMShehbaz going 5th gear from IT to road infrastructure.”

@umarsaif good to see you back.

“This dashboard lacks in many ways. Deficent to our req. Nation doesnt need it. Its slow aswell. Tell me one point where it functional. No hot spots. Its just static. Not real time.” @CMShehbaz going 5th gear from IT to road infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/SUsG7RrXMU

— Waqas Ahmed (@waqas03) October 3, 2022

Former PITB member Umer Saif said, “I am always available for advice to the government. But they need to step up to PM’s expectations. He is used to fairly advanced data-driven monitoring systems in Punjab.”

I am always available for advice to the government. But they need to step up to PM’s expectations. He is used to fairly advanced data-driven monitoring systems in Punjab. https://t.co/BsfRjGK9UV

— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) October 3, 2022