Digital Nation Pakistan Bill 2024 tabled in National Assembly
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The federal government on Monday tabled the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill 2024 in the National Assembly.
The bill is aimed at creating a digital identity for citizens to centralise social, economic and governance data. Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja tabled the bill.
Today’s agenda said the legislation would “provide for the transformation of Pakistan into a digital nation, enabling a digital society, digital economy and digital governance”.
The bill was approved by the federal cabinet in June.
The bill said it was expedient to enable the people to become a digital nation by leveraging the transformative power of digital technologies, responsible use of data, innovative service delivery models and robust digital public infrastructure to accelerate sustainable economic development, improve citizen well-being, and modernise governance frameworks for efficient and effective public service delivery.
It said it was expedient to create a forward-looking digital society, foster a thriving digital economy and establish a collaborative digital governance ecosystem with secure, inclusive, and interoperable digital public infrastructure as a key enabler supporting innovation, connectivity and seamless integration across sectors.
The bill said the establishment of the National Digital Commission and the Pakistan Digital Authority was necessary and would provide strategic direction, governance and operational oversight required to achieve the above objectives.
According to the bill, the National Digital Commission (NDC) is a body headed by the prime minister, including all four chief ministers and heads of organisations like the State Bank, Federal Board of Revenue and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority; while the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) would be led by top industry experts.
The bill said the NDC would prescribe the required policy, provide governance and ensure necessary coordination amongst federal, provincial, and sectoral bodies to achieve the objectives of a digital nation and align national digital transformation with economic growth, effective governance and societal development.