Tech Desk 
Jun 15, 2025
Pakistan has announced a large-scale new digital initiative — the National Big Data Portal — to increase access to public data and assist with the country's transition to smarter, data-driven governance.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal launched the portal on Thursday.
The national initiative was developed with support from LUMS and in collaboration with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The aim of the portal is to facilitate easier access for researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.
Pakistan National Big Data portal
The minister noted that the launch is a milestone in the digital evolution of Pakistan. He stated, “Our development story will now be written as a code when computed as a cloud and interpreted as data.”
Pakistan's digital governance strategy still has significant challenges like disjointed data systems and limited coordination, but the minister believes this portal will assist with the transition from data to information into meaningful insights.
Notably, the initiative is part of the government’s wider 5Es Framework, where digital transformation is a cornerstone for national betterment.
Pakistan has achieved a number of notable digital milestones, including a fully digital census based on cloud tools, sovereign cloud infrastructure, AI centres in universities, and continued collaboration with international tech companies including Google Cloud, Microsoft, Huawei, and AWS on training and technology transfer.
The PBS Snapshot will provide around 40 million households and 8 million businesses key data supported by its hundreds of regional offices and GIS (geographic information systems) labs.
Minister Iqbal also announced the launch of “Quantum Valley Pakistan, ”a new innovation ecosystem designed to assist research and start-ups in advanced technologies.
He implored universities to begin applying data science in all domains, including health, agriculture, and urban planning. “It is time to take talk and transform Pakistan,” Iqbal said, challenging the youth, academia, and industry to own the country’s digital future.
