The Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) has held a stakeholder consultation with the Sindh IT Company (SITC) and the Sindh Science and Information Technology Department as part of the ongoing development of the National Digital Masterplan (NDMP), the authority said in a post reported on October 31, 2026.
What happened?
The PDA said the consultation focused on increasing provincial participation in shaping Pakistan’s national digital transformation agenda and aligning provincial priorities with the masterplan. The authority was represented by Chief of Staff Sophia Hasnain, Chief Digital Public Infrastructure Officer Dr Sahibzada Ali Mahmud, and Strategy Project Manager Kashif Ahmad, who met their Sindh counterparts. The PDA said national digital transformation will work best when national direction and provincial ownership move forward together.
Key details
- The discussion looked for opportunities for coordinated action in digital governance, public services, digital infrastructure, and sectoral transformation.
- The PDA described the consultation as an example of its whole-of-government approach, which builds on provincial experience, respects institutional mandates, and turns national digital ambitions into practical priorities that suit local conditions.
- The masterplan is the federal government’s framework for coordinating digital transformation across the economy, covering sectors including education, health, agriculture, taxation, social protection, energy, logistics, and public service delivery.
- The plan rests on three pillars: digital society, digital economy, and digital governance, under the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025.
- Sindh has its own digital programmes, including the E-Portal recently handed over to SITC for operation and maintenance, so alignment with the national plan matters for how provincial services connect with national systems.
- The PDA has not announced when the masterplan will be finalised or whether it will be released publicly, and the specific proposals or decisions from the Sindh meeting have not been made public.
What it means for people in Pakistan
For citizens, a coordinated national plan could mean public digital services that work more consistently across federal and provincial systems, rather than each province building in isolation. The emphasis on provincial input matters because many everyday services, from health to education, are delivered at the provincial level. Until the plan is finalised and published, however, the practical changes for users remain to be seen.
