Pakistan Software Export Board, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, has facilitated a National Consultation Workshop on the Digital Skills Pillar of the Pakistan Digital and Artificial Intelligence Compact 2026-2030, a strategic policy framework being developed to guide the country’s digital and technology agenda over the next five years. The session brought together members of the National Committee on Information and Communication Technology Skills and Capacity Development alongside key stakeholders from the technology industry, academia, and government to discuss the current state of digital and artificial intelligence skills development in Pakistan and the policy interventions needed to build a more competitive and future-ready national digital workforce.
The Pakistan Digital and Artificial Intelligence Compact 2026-2030 is being developed as a multi-pillar national framework, with the Digital Skills Pillar addressing one of the most critical structural challenges facing Pakistan’s technology sector: the gap between the volume of technology talent being produced and the quality, specialisation, and global readiness required to sustain the country’s ambitions for IT export growth and domestic digital economy development. The National Committee on Information and Communication Technology Skills and Capacity Development, which brings together representatives from relevant ministries, industry associations, training institutions, and development partners, serves as the primary advisory body shaping the recommendations that will feed into the final Compact document.
The workshop provided a structured consultation mechanism for gathering ground-level feedback from stakeholders closest to the skills development challenge, including technology employers who understand what capabilities the market actually demands, training institutions grappling with curriculum relevance and delivery quality, and government officials responsible for allocating resources and setting policy priorities. The feedback gathered through the session will directly inform how the Digital Skills Pillar of the Compact is structured, what targets it sets, and what policy instruments it recommends for expanding access to quality digital and artificial intelligence skills training across Pakistan’s diverse geographic and demographic landscape.
The consultation arrives at a moment when Pakistan has already committed to training one million people in artificial intelligence over the next three years, a target announced by Federal Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja just days earlier, and when the federal budget for 2026-27 has protected the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication’s full development allocation of Rs 22 billion with specific earmarks for digital skills programmes and artificial intelligence training. By grounding the Pakistan Digital and Artificial Intelligence Compact’s skills agenda in a nationally consultative process, PSEB and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication are working to ensure that the policies and investments that flow from the Compact are shaped by evidence and stakeholder consensus rather than top-down assumptions about what Pakistan’s digital workforce needs to succeed globally.
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