Islamabad – The federal government has officially established the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA), a new body tasked with spearheading the country’s digital transformation agenda under the recently approved Digital Nation Bill. The Cabinet Division confirmed the appointments of Dr. Sohail Munir as chairperson and Dr. Muhammad J. Sear as one of its two members, with a third member yet to be named.
The PDA, operating under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, will develop, implement, and monitor Pakistan’s national digital master plan. It will also design a monitoring and evaluation framework for digital transformation projects nationwide. Both Dr. Munir and Dr. Sear have been appointed on five-year contracts.
Dr. Munir, a digital futurist with expertise in government transformation, currently serves as an adviser to Abu Dhabi’s Department of Government Enablement. Dr. Sear, CEO of UAE-based well-being startup Simpli Human, has also worked extensively with governments and the private sector on digital transformation projects.
The PDA’s mandate includes:
- Coordinating between public and private stakeholders on digital initiatives.
- Establishing a national data strategy and governance framework.
- Reviewing and evaluating projects under the digital master plan.
- Developing standards for cloud infrastructure governance within the public sector.
The Digital Nation Bill, approved by the federal cabinet in June, aims to create digital identities for citizens, centralize governance and socioeconomic data, and transition Pakistan toward a digital society, economy, and governance model.
With the appointments, Pakistan takes a significant step toward institutionalizing its digital transformation journey, aligning with global trends of data-driven governance and smart government infrastructure.
