The federal government tabled on Monday the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024, in the National Assembly (NA), which aims to establish a unified digital identity for citizens with centralised social, economic, and governance data.

Minister of State for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja tabled the bill that was approved by the federal cabinet in June this year to achieve paperless governance and digitisation of Pakistan’s economy.

Addressing an event in Islamabad earlier on Monday, Shaza Fatima had said that the bill would be introduced in the NA and then would hopefully be passed as a law with the National Digital Commission (NDC) coming into form in the next few days.

She said the commission would be headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and all Chief Ministers (CM) of the four provinces would be a part of it alongside “heads of all major regulatory bodies in the country including Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other important data pools will be a part of it”.

“The commission will be followed by a Pakistan Digital Authority, which will ensure a robust and comprehensive national framework and a masterplan blueprint for national digitisation, which intends to focus on three verticals i.e. economy, governance and society.

“We are hoping that with the creation of a unified digital identity for every citizen of Pakistan, we will be well on a pathway towards unlocking the true potential that this country holds,” said Fatima.

The purpose of the bill is to align Pakistan’s economy, governance and services sector with the modern digital system practiced internationally.