Govt Cloud First Policy Attracts. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has received six applications from cloud service providers under the government’s Cloud First Policy. This information was shared in the National Assembly through a written reply by Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister for IT and Telecom. The reply was given in response to a question raised by Syeda Amnah Batool.
According to the minister, all six applications are currently under review. The Ministry is assessing them according to government rules and accreditation requirements.
Review of Local AI Cloud Infrastructure
The minister also informed the House that the Ministry has examined the potential use of Pakistan’s locally hosted AI Cloud and Data Centre established by Data Vault Pakistan. This facility was launched in November in collaboration with Nvidia. The infrastructure includes sovereign AI, GPU-as-a-Service, and AI Cloud capabilities.
She explained that such infrastructure could support government digital services. It can also help ensure data stays within Pakistan, improve cybersecurity, and meet regulatory requirements.
No Formal Accreditation Yet
Despite the potential, the minister clarified that the Ministry has not been formally onboarded for production-level workloads related to this AI Cloud and Data Centre. he added that Data Vault Pakistan has not yet submitted an official application for accreditation under the Cloud First Policy.
Any future adoption would depend on government procedures, security clearances, and consultation with other ministries. Pilot projects and phased implementation may be considered later.
Possible Use Areas Identified
The minister highlighted several areas where such infrastructure could be useful in the future. These include e-governance systems and digital public service platforms.
Other possible areas are cybersecurity initiatives like Security Operations Centres and the national Computer Emergency Response Team. Secure government data hosting, analytics, and sector-specific AI use cases were also mentioned. She also pointed to opportunities in public sector AI research and innovation.
Global Examples and Policy Alignment
The initiative aligns with Pakistan National AI Policy and Cloud First Policy. The minister noted that many countries use public-private partnership models for sovereign digital and AI services.
Examples include the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and United Arab Emirates. These countries show that sovereign AI systems and global service providers can work together under strong governance and security frameworks.
She concluded that such infrastructure would strengthen Pakistan’s national AI computing capacity and support broader digital policy goals.
