KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the immediate establishment of three modern provincial data centers under the ambitious Digital Sindh Initiative. The decision was finalized during a high-level meeting with a delegation from the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), led by Managing Director Maj. Gen. (R) Ali Farhan, with the primary objective of revolutionizing public administration, strengthening digital governance, and securing state data through a robust technological framework.
The Sindh government and NTC reviewed partnership opportunities spanning telecommunications, data management, cloud services, and cyber security during the session. As Pakistan’s sole state-owned ICT service provider, NTC already operates a nearly 1,000 km optical fiber network across Sindh, which serves as the foundational infrastructure for safe city projects and integrated government communications.
The upcoming data centers are designed to provide secure data storage, cloud computing, and disaster recovery services for provincial departments while simultaneously bridging the digital divide by extending high-speed internet and digital access to rural and remote communities to improve healthcare and education delivery. Furthermore, this centralized digital framework will act as the technological backbone for upcoming Safe City projects, enabling real-time data processing for law enforcement and supporting advanced technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), smart governance, and digital record management.
Emphasizing that government data is a vital national asset crucial for public trust and effective governance, CM Murad Ali Shah instructed the Planning & Development Board, the IT Department, and NTC to jointly formulate a detailed roadmap covering technical specifications, project timelines, administrative procedures, and potential Public-Private Partnership (PPP) execution models aligned with global standards of cyber security and disaster recovery.
