The Pakistan Digital Authority hosted the Asian Development Bank Fact-Finding Mission at PDA headquarters to discuss proposed Technical Assistance on Climate Finance and Data Governance in Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by PDA Chairperson Dr. Sohail Munir and brought together senior representatives from both ADB and PDA, exploring how digital governance, data exchange and interoperability can strengthen Pakistan’s climate resilience and support access to climate finance.
Discussions centered on several key areas, beginning with climate data governance, covering standards for classifying, accessing and sharing climate data while allowing institutions to retain ownership of what they hold. The meeting also addressed trusted data exchange, focused on secure, interoperable mechanisms built on common standards, metadata, APIs, access controls and security, alongside how machine readable data could support climate finance through risk assessment, project preparation and monitoring.
Further discussions covered federal and provincial interoperability, aimed at enabling secure data exchange across federal, provincial and local government, as well as the role of emerging technologies including satellite, geospatial and sensor data combined with AI and analytics for climate risk assessment, forecasting, early warning and planning. Participants also discussed public private collaboration, focused on the responsible integration of private sector data and capability into the broader climate data ecosystem.
Climate data was framed as a practical use case for PDA’s work on data governance and interoperability, with the potential to demonstrate how secure digital infrastructure can turn data into a basis for assessing climate risk. PDA and ADB will continue technical work on the proposed Technical Assistance, covering its architecture, governance mechanisms, standards, institutional roles, technical requirements and implementation roadmap, with officials noting that a secure and interoperable data ecosystem is as important for climate resilience as it is for sectors like health or agriculture.
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