The Pakistan Digital Authority hosted Vice Chancellor of the Health Services Academy Islamabad, Shahzad Ali Khan, for a meeting with the Authority’s Chairperson, Sohail Munir, to discuss strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating the country’s digital health transformation. The meeting brought together two institutions with distinct but complementary roles, one focused on building digital infrastructure and the other on public health research and policy, in an effort to align their work more closely going forward.
During the discussion, the Chairperson briefed the Vice Chancellor on the Authority’s ongoing work related to digital transformation, interoperability and data governance within the health sector. The Health Services Academy, described as the country’s premier public health institution, presented its established strength in research, policy support and workforce development, areas that officials from both sides indicated could complement the technical systems being built by the Pakistan Digital Authority. The conversation covered several themes central to the future of digital health in the country, including governance frameworks for digital health systems, the development of interoperable health data systems that can function across different platforms, evidence based approaches to policymaking and the broader task of building capacity within the health workforce to use these systems effectively.
Both organisations agreed to begin work on a Memorandum of Understanding that would establish a formal framework for collaboration across several areas. These include setting up shared governance arrangements for digital health, advancing interoperability and common data standards across different health systems, strengthening policy development through research backed advisory support, and building capacity and digital skills among health workers. The proposed framework also covers support for research and innovation in digital health, as well as strengthening integrated health information systems that connect federal, provincial and district level institutions, an area officials noted has historically suffered from fragmented data sharing between different tiers of government. Focal persons are expected to be nominated by both organisations to carry the collaborative work forward once the memorandum takes shape.
Officials from both sides suggested that the value of the partnership lies in pairing the technical systems being developed by the Pakistan Digital Authority with the research and policy expertise housed at the Health Services Academy, since building digital infrastructure alone does not guarantee that the resulting data and tools are used effectively by clinicians and policymakers. The discussion reflected a broader view within Pakistan’s digital health community that decisions about how such systems should be used need to be informed by public health research rather than developed separately from it. By involving an institution with a research and workforce development mandate early in the process, officials indicated they hope to avoid a scenario where digital health tools are built first and evaluated for real world usefulness only afterward.
The proposed collaboration comes as Pakistan continues to expand efforts around digital governance and interoperable data systems across various sectors, with health identified as one of the areas where fragmented information systems have historically limited coordination between federal and provincial authorities. Further details, including the specific scope and timeline of the memorandum, are expected to be finalised as focal persons from both institutions begin working through the terms of the agreement in the coming weeks.
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