KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to establish a state-of-the-art provincial data centre in collaboration with the National Telecommunication Corporation to accelerate the province’s digital transformation and strengthen e-governance.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and NTC Managing Director retired Major General Ali Farhan at CM House on Thursday.

The meeting was attended among others by Special Assistant to CM on Information Technology Mohammad Ali Rashid, Chairman of Planning and Development Board Bilal Memon, NTC General Manager South Muhammad Irfan and Director Development South Atta-ur-Rehman Malik.

Sources told Dawn that a high-level committee would finalise a proposal to determine if the project would be carried out through a Public-Private Partnership or handed over to the NTC on a contract basis.

Murad says protection and accessibility of govt data are critical

They said that the committee would comprise the special assistant to the chief minister on IT, the Sindh IT secretary, IT experts from the province, and the MD NTC along with his team.

The sources said that the committee would submit its proposal on whether the project should be executed under the PPP mode or awarded to the NTC on a contract basis within three months.

According to a press statement issued by CM House, the chief minister directed the planning and development board, the IT department and the NTC to jointly prepare a comprehensive roadmap covering technical specifications, implementation timelines, governance mechanisms and future expansion requirements.

He said the project could be initiated through a public-private partnership model with the NTC. “Government data is a national asset,” he said, adding that its protection, management and accessibility were critical for effective governance, public trust and institutional efficiency.

CM Murad said that the provincial government wanted Sindh to lead in digital innovation and e-governance.

He said that secure data infrastructure had become a strategic requirement worldwide. “A modern provincial data centre will provide secure storage, cloud-based services and business continuity solutions for government departments while reducing operational risks and improving inter-departmental coordination,” he added.

The chief minister said the facility would serve as the backbone for future initiatives in artificial intelligence, smart governance, Safe City systems, digital records management and citizen-centric services.

He also stressed that the project was designed to bridge the digital divide by extending high-speed connectivity to rural and remote areas of Sindh, ensuring access to healthcare, education and online public services at the grassroots level.

CM Murad said that the centralised data facility and robust connectivity network would also support the upcoming Safe Cities project for advanced surveillance and real-time data processing for law enforcement.

Briefing the meeting, Maj-Gen Farhan said the NTC, established under the Telecom Reorganisation Act of 1996, was the country’s sole government-owned ICT service provider. “It already operates Tier-III compliant data centres in Islamabad, Lahore and Quetta, providing secure hosting, cloud computing and disaster recovery services,” he added.

The NTC chief said that nearly 1,000 kilometres of optical fibre network was being maintained by the NTC across Sindh, which provided the infrastructure needed for large-scale digital initiatives, including Safe City projects and integrated government communication systems.

“The corporation now plans to establish an advanced data centre in Karachi to meet provincial e-governance requirements and strengthen data sovereignty,”

The participants also reviewed opportunities for cooperation in telecommunications, data management, cloud services, cybersecurity and digital governance.

Concluding the meeting, the chief minister reiterated the provincial government’s commitment to work closely with NTC to develop secure ICT infrastructure and expand digital connectivity across the province.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026