Pakistan Digital Authority has begun shaping its role as a central govtech body with a mandate that goes far beyond digitising existing processes, according to its Founding Chairperson Dr Sohail Munir. Formally operationalised under the Prime Minister’s Office just four months ago, the newly established authority is currently operating with a lean three member team and has been tasked with developing a national digital master plan alongside other strategic priorities. Dr Munir describes the mission of PDA as nothing less than reimagining how government functions, shifting the mindset from seeing government as a rigid institution to viewing it as a system that can be redesigned to better serve human needs. Speaking about his personal motivation, he recalls conversations with his family that helped shape this philosophy, reinforcing the idea that governance must continuously evolve rather than remain fixed in outdated structures.
In an interaction with GovInsider as part of its Digital Government initiative, Dr Munir explained that the PDA’s role is rooted in enabling a broader shift in the social contract between citizens and the state. Drawing on examples from Singapore, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, he noted that successful digital transformation occurs when governments move away from internal, government centric processes toward models designed around citizen needs and experiences. Dr Munir brings firsthand experience from his work in the United Arab Emirates, where he contributed to initiatives such as UAE Pass, the Smart Dubai platform, and Abu Dhabi’s push toward becoming an AI native government. Applying these global lessons locally, PDA is pursuing a parallel approach of building foundational infrastructure while also introducing agility into the civil service to support sustained transformation.
Central to this effort is what Dr Munir describes as a Digital Public Infrastructure first policy. Under this approach, PDA is ensuring that ministries and public bodies use shared digital building blocks instead of creating isolated systems. While traditional DPI frameworks focus on digital identity, digital payments, and data exchange, PDA is extending this concept by developing sector specific digital sub stacks. These include areas such as healthcare, education, and real estate, each with tailored components like health IDs and digital health records. According to Dr Munir, this approach allows provincial governments, private sector players, and other stakeholders to build on shared infrastructure, accelerating innovation while maintaining interoperability. He added that Pakistan’s large developer community represents a significant national strength, and PDA plans to tap into this talent pool to build sub stack components and collaborate with other countries on open source solutions.
Open sourcing, Dr Munir said, is a deliberate strategy to invite global expertise and foster shared ownership of digital public goods. He highlighted how Pakistan has already benefited from international initiatives such as GovStack specifications and Estonia’s X Road, and stressed that PDA remains committed to contributing back to the global ecosystem. Alongside this, the authority is working to establish clear digital standards to provide regulatory clarity and consistency for all stakeholders. Dr Munir emphasised that framing these components under the DPI concept has fundamentally changed how digital transformation is approached, moving it away from fragmented projects toward a coherent national architecture.
The PDA’s work is also informed by extensive global research, with the team studying digital government models across 30 countries. One key lesson, according to Dr Munir, is the importance of codified infrastructure and enterprise architecture to ensure continuity across political cycles. This insight drove the early prioritisation of Pakistan’s national digital master plan as a foundational framework. Influences include Estonia and Singapore for whole of government platforms, UAE for seamless citizen experiences, and the UK for digital governance practices. At the same time, PDA recognises that Pakistan’s scale, federal structure, and urban rural diversity mean these models must be adapted rather than copied.
Addressing local challenges, Dr Munir pointed to the need to engage a large and often disengaged youth population, particularly in the context of high unemployment. He described the dual challenge posed by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, balancing opportunity creation with security and regulation. While the government aims to roll out initial AI use cases within the Prime Minister’s Office by March 23 next year, PDA is also focused on building safeguards and governance structures. Beyond digital services, the authority is positioning data as a national asset, with a responsibility to protect it while using it to generate public value. Through shared infrastructure, innovation labs, and collaborative design, PDA aims to enable the private sector, startups, and young developers to participate meaningfully in Pakistan’s digital and data economy.
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