Pakistan Digital Authority hosted Qamar Zaman Qaisrani, President of the Pakistan Management Service Officers Association and Project Director of the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry, along with the registry’s leadership team, for discussions on data governance, secure data exchange, and digital public infrastructure. The meeting brought together two institutions central to Pakistan’s evolving digital governance landscape, one responsible for setting national data standards and the other holding detailed socio-economic records on millions of citizens.
Chairperson of Pakistan Digital Authority Doctor Sohail Munir briefed the visiting team on the authority’s mandate and on WASL, described as the National Data Exchange Layer, which allows government institutions to exchange verified data through secure, consent based pathways. He outlined the broader framework within which Pakistan Digital Authority initiatives operate, including the National Digital Masterplan, the proposed National Digital Commission, and the National Data Governance Policy, positioning the discussion within the wider institutional architecture the authority has been building since its establishment last year.
The discussion centred on interoperability between government data systems, evidence based governance, and enhancing targeted social protection programmes that rely on accurate, well managed socio-economic data. Given that a registry such as the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry holds detailed information on millions of citizens, participants noted that the value of such data depends heavily on how well it is governed, including who may access it, under what consent, and how it moves between institutions without being exposed or improperly pooled together.
Both organisations agreed to continue technical consultations, share knowledge and policy frameworks, and explore standardised, privacy preserving data exchange mechanisms aligned with national priorities. The engagement reflects Pakistan Digital Authority’s continued effort to build partnerships with provincial data holding institutions as it works to operationalise the National Data Governance Policy and expand secure, consent based data exchange across government. Doctor Munir, who previously worked on major digital government initiatives in the United Arab Emirates including Smart Dubai and the UAE Pass system, has repeatedly emphasised a Digital Public Infrastructure first approach since taking charge of the authority, arguing that shared building blocks such as digital identity, payments, and data exchange should form the foundation for government systems rather than each institution developing standalone solutions.
The meeting adds to a series of engagements Pakistan Digital Authority has held with various government bodies and institutions since its formation under the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025, as the authority works to establish itself as the central coordinating body for data governance across federal and provincial government entities. Officials from both sides described secure, consent based data exchange as foundational to Pakistan’s broader digital transformation, noting that a socio-economic registry is only as effective as the systems it can safely connect to, and that partnerships of this kind are intended to help build a digital ecosystem that is interoperable, secure, and centred on the needs of citizens.
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