Pakistan could generate $60 billion to $80 billion in economic benefits over the next five years through digital transformation, with agriculture, real estate and healthcare among the sectors expected to benefit, a working paper issued by the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) has said.
The paper identifies digitalisation as an opportunity to boost economic growth, improve public services and make government operations more efficient. It has been forwarded to the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Telecom.
However, the document highlights the lack of interoperability between government digital systems as a major challenge, noting that disconnected systems can hinder coordination between departments.
The agriculture sector could generate more than $9 billion in economic benefits by 2030 through digitalisation, while digital reforms in healthcare could result in savings exceeding $450 million, the paper states.
The real estate sector could also attract an additional $15 billion in investment by 2030 through digital transformation, according to the document.
Under the proposed framework, the PDA will help develop a National Digital Master Plan and digital infrastructure to improve coordination between federal and provincial governments.
The plan aims to connect government systems, reduce administrative delays and establish common digital standards across public-sector institutions.
The proposed Pakistan Digital Stack will integrate digital identity, payment systems and data-exchange mechanisms to enable secure and seamless interactions between government departments.
