Advancing Digital Pakistan: A Strategic Review of Current Progress and Global Best Practices

Abstract

Digital governance has become a characteristic of national development that promotes transparency, efficiency, and participation of citizens. The world has been experiencing that digital transformation is not only about technology but about ensuring that the digital world is designed with the human world in mind namely, artificial intelligence. Such transformation can only be successful with the trust of the people, with citizens having faith in the reliability and security of the digital systems to succeed. Pakistan is on the threshold of its digitalization, and over the past few years, extended its digital infrastructure, creating 5G networks and international data connections. The data on the mobile internet gender gap has decreased between the years 2022-2023, which is a positive attempt at increasing digital inclusion. Such efforts as the initiative of URAAN Pakistan, a national plan encompassing the introduction of technology into the economic and social reforms, have started setting a new course of inclusive digitalization. The institutional advancements toward digital responsibility and empowerment are also demonstrated by the fact that digital evidence is recognized by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the programmes led by the State Bank to include women in the financial sphere. However, the digital future of Pakistan remains challenged. The adoption of the E-office system is uneven, with bureaucratic stagnation, weak technical facilities, and fragmented coordination, which still slow down the transformation. As this paper highlights, it is not enough to have in place a proper infrastructure. Real change means that there has to be a systemic change in place, capacity building, and the creation of more effective regional cooperation between the government and the business sector. Based on the best practices of other successful models of digital governance, such as Estonia, Denmark, Singapore, and South Korea, this paper finds actionable principles and strategic suggestions towards the situation in Pakistan, with trust, inclusion, and human-centered governance.