Govt Prioritizes AI and IT to Boost Economy, Safeguard Data

Government sets AI and IT as priority levers for economic development

Lahore - Oct 11, 2025

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting in Lahore to accelerate the use of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence across the economy. He emphasized effective implementation of the national AI policy and a tighter focus on data protection, data sovereignty, and responsible use.

Key directives from the Prime Minister

• Constitute a high-level steering committee to drive AI promotion and implementation.
• Form an AI Advisory Panel of experts to guide policy, standards, and deployment.
• Strengthen data protection and sovereignty; set clear guardrails for responsible AI across sectors.
• Use AI to improve productivity, citizen services, and export growth within the digital economy.

What this means for ministries, agencies, and IT leaders

• Data: Build inventories of high-value datasets; classify, quality-score, and set access controls. Prepare privacy impact assessments and retention rules.
• Governance: Adopt an AI risk management framework; define accountability, model documentation, testing, bias audits, and incident response.
• Infrastructure: Prioritize secure cloud and GPU access; standardize MLOps, APIs, and data pipelines across departments.
• Procurement: Update RFPs with AI-specific security, evaluation, and performance criteria; require transparent model reporting from vendors.
• Skills: Establish an AI capability baseline for civil servants; train product owners, data stewards, and engineers on safe deployment.

Near-term actions (next 90 days)

• Form the steering committee; confirm TORs, KPIs, and reporting cadence to the PMO.
• Stand up the AI Advisory Panel; publish initial guidance on responsible use and data handling.
• Launch 3-5 high-impact pilots in taxation, health claims, citizen services, and fraud detection with clear ROI targets.
• Issue a data governance playbook covering classification, consent, cross-border transfers, and anonymization.
• Create a central registry for AI systems used by government with model cards and evaluation results.

Policy anchors and standards

Responsible use will require clear rules and practical tools. Leaders can reference internationally recognized frameworks such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework for controls and measurement.

NIST AI Risk Management Framework

Workforce enablement

Execution depends on skilled teams. Agencies planning structured upskilling can explore job-aligned AI learning paths.

AI courses by job role - Complete AI Training

Outlook

The direction is clear: deliver measurable results through AI while protecting citizens' data and rights. With the steering committee and expert panel in motion, the focus now shifts to governance, capacity, and pilots that prove value at scale.