ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, Syed Aminul Haque, MNA, on Tuesday appreciated the performance of the Pakistan Digital Authority after a briefing given to the committee at Parliament House.
Pakistan Digital Authority Chairperson Dr Sohail Munir attended the meeting, while MNAs Asia Ishaq, Pileen Baloch, Ammar Leghari, Sadiq Ali Memon, Dr Mahesh Kumar, Ateeq Anwar and Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui raised questions about the authority and its role in promoting IT awareness and software development.
Briefing the committee, Dr Sohail Munir gave a detailed overview of digital society, digital economy and digital governance, and informed members about their benefits for citizens and businesses. He also highlighted the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025 and underlined the importance of data for informed decision-making in policymaking.
“If data is used properly, it can add 2 per cent to GDP. Data is a national asset that needs to be protected and the Pakistan Digital Authority is the data regulator,” Dr Munir told the committee.
He also drew attention to risks linked with artificial intelligence, saying: “AI has its own risks. Different models give different answers to the same question. Today, our citizens are using these AI tools and they need protection.”
The chairperson said the National Digital Commission was the top forum for national coordination, as implementation rested with the provinces. He said hurdles existed among different departments and in inter-provincial matters relating to data and digital cooperation.
Citing the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, he informed the committee that the cost of such administrative barriers was equal to 39 per cent of GDP. He said the aim was to remove these barriers through a new way of working, which could create a potential opportunity of $60 billion to $80 billion over five years.
Dr Munir said the National Digital Master Plan covered 15 sectors. He added that the PDA was developing an integrated and shared mechanism in consultation with stakeholders to establish a standard digital format for governance.
MNA Asia Ishaq appreciated the PDA’s efforts and asked about data protection, including how it would be ensured that data does not leave the country.
In response, Dr Sohail Munir said the authority was not only preparing regulations, standards and implementation guidelines, but was also establishing Pakistan’s National Data Exchange Layer, “Wasl”. He said the platform would ensure that data was shared securely and only with the consent of citizens and data owners.
