President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said the country’s Constitution gives the voting right to overseas Pakistanis and mentioned that efforts were afoot to ensure their inclusion in polling for the next general election through a simplified online procedure. Addressing the overseas Pakistanis here, he said the expatriates had an important role in supporting the national economy, adding that depriving them of their voting rights could be big discrimination. President Alvi said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) were collaborating to prepare the voters’ lists in a transparent manner. He said the voting options for overseas Pakistanis through postal ballot and physical polling at embassies had complexities and non-practicalities. Internet voting, he said, was the most practical way for overseas Pakistanis to poll their votes. He stressed that Pakistan must adopt the new technologies to progress in different fields, including the use of electronic voting machines. About details of the online voting, he said the government in near future would open the registration window for overseas Pakistan for 5-6 days. He said on inclusion in NADRA’s voter list after registration, the name of the dual nationals would grey-out in the local lists of the country. Through smartphones, a code would be received to be used with secrecy in voting. To overcome the apprehension of non-transparency, the algorithms of the cast votes would be mixed-up, he added. Dr Alvi mentioned that he had proposed putting in place an audit system for which the passwords keys could be given to both Chief Election Commission and the Chief Justice of Pakistan. He emphasized that an effective audit system could prevent hacking of the online voting system. The president said efforts were being made to simplify the voting process for overseas Pakistanis. He urged the overseas Pakistanis to share their knowledge and expertise with the locals in the homeland to help them excel in the world. President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said amid the global challenges of cyber-attacks, it was important for Pakistan to build national capabilities in cyber security to protect its important systems and data. Addressing at the inaugural session of 2nd annual International Conference of Cyber Warfare and Security, he said preparing indigenous professionals and solutions was vital to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks, particularly against the country’s defence, energy and financial infrastructures. The two-day event organized by National Centre of Cyber Security, Air University discussed ways to build to strengthen cyber security and neutralize advanced threats. President Alvi said the attainment of strong capacity in cyber security was significant for both defensive and offensive strategies as the world witnessed rapid technological advancement. He said a national vision of a secure and robust digital ecosystem would lead the country to socio-economic development. He mentioned that cyberspace had recently attracted the attention of many developed and developing countries with reports of government websites being hacked and sensitive data stolen by foreign groups. He said with quantum computers coming to future, it would become highly difficult to secure data for a country unless production of its indigenous hardware and software. He pointed out that cyber-attacks could affect the nation’s infrastructure and damage its economy. To create cyber security awareness, he said, there was a dire need for Pakistan to produce graduates and human resource capable of handling the challenges of cyber security. The president, who inaugurated on the occasion the National Cyber Security Academy, lauded the efforts of the Pakistan Air Force to emerge as an effective ubiquitous and highly responsive cyber force. He expressed confidence that under the patronage of PAF and Higher Education Commission, the academy would prove as a milestone towards safe, secure and sustainable national cyber security. Besides defence, Dr Alvi said, it was high time for Pakistan to secure its boundaries from all sorts of cyber-attacks in domains including politics, industry and culture. PAF Director General C4I Air Vice Marshal Abbas Ghumman outlined the priorities of PAF in collaboration with academia on ensuring the cyber defence. He mentioned in this regard the initiatives including artificial intelligence, strengthening of the aerospace industry to gain self-reliance, malware detection, hardware and software evaluation, the establishment of PAF’s first cyber security park and full operationalization of the PAF’s cyber command by March. Director National Centre for Cyber Security (NCCS) Dr Kashif Kifayat said the Air University and NCCS were collaborating on indigenous tool development to tap the international market. The cyber security academy would act as a platform for researchers and industry to improve the digital landscape of the country, he added. Vice Chancellor Air University Air Marshal (retd) Javaid Ahmed said for PAF, the timely realization of cyber security amid top threats of national security had gained momentum. He said the National Cyber Security Academy was important in developing cyber awareness, training and skilled development.