By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government has officially established the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA), a body tasked with overseeing the country’s ambitious digital transformation agenda.
The authority, formed under the recently approved Digital Nation Bill, will be led by Dr Sohail Munir as chairperson, with Dr Muhammad J. Sear appointed as one of its two members, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The PDA, one of three entities created under the Digital Nation Bill approved by the federal cabinet in June, is charged with developing and implementing a national digital master plan. The authority will also establish a framework to monitor and evaluate digital transformation projects, aiming to create a digital identity for citizens and centralize social, economic, and governance data to foster a digital society, economy, and governance, the bill’s objectives state.
Notifications from the Cabinet Division confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Dr Munir and Dr Sear under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. Both will serve on a five-year contract, effective immediately and “until further orders.” The third member of the authority is yet to be named.
Dr Munir, a seasoned expert in government digital transformation, currently advises the Abu Dhabi government’s Department of Government Enablement in the United Arab Emirates, according to his LinkedIn profile, which describes him as a “digital futurist.” Dr Sear, also a specialist in digital governance, serves as CEO of Simpli Human, a UAE-based well-being startup, and has advised both governments and private firms, his LinkedIn profile states.
The PDA’s mandate is expansive. It will coordinate stakeholders, review plans tied to the digital master plan, and develop a national data strategy alongside a robust data governance framework for public and private sectors. The authority will also recommend standards and compliance measures for public-sector cloud infrastructure, among other responsibilities.
In June, Prime Minister Sharif greenlit a search and selection committee, led by Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja, to recommend candidates for the PDA’s leadership. The appointments of Dr Munir and Dr Sear are the first concrete outcomes of that process.
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