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The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT) has issued a clarification regarding the locally hosted AI Cloud and Data Centre launched by Data Vault Pakistan in November.
MoITT confirmed it has not yet been formally approached or onboarded for production workloads. This statement comes despite the Ministry acknowledging the strategic importance of sovereign AI infrastructure.
Accreditation Status
MoITT has examined the potential of the locally hosted AI Cloud and GPU-as-a-Service capabilities. They noted that such infrastructure significantly supports government digital services. Furthermore, it ensures data residency, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. These initiatives align directly with Pakistan’s National AI Policy and Cloud First Policy.
However, the Ministry underscored a key gap. No formal request for production use has been initiated. Under the Cloud First Policy, MoITT has received six applications from cloud service providers for accreditation. The Ministry is currently assessing these applications. Conversely, Data Vault Pakistan has not yet submitted an application for accreditation.
MoITT: Path to Future Adoption
MoITT stated that any future engagement depends on strict protocols. These include government procedures, security clearances, and inter-ministerial consultations.
Once that framework is established, the Ministry indicated that it could consider pilot projects. Potential areas for phased adoption include:
- E-governance: Digital public service platforms.
- Security: Cybersecurity operations, SOCs, and national CERT initiatives.
- Data: Secure government data hosting and analytics.
- Innovation: Public-sector AI research and sector-specific use cases.
International Standards
The Ministry also highlighted international precedents. Governments worldwide successfully use public-private partnership (PPP) models for sovereign digital services.
MoITT cited the United States, where government workloads run on private platforms like AWS GovCloud and Azure Government. Additionally, they referenced the UK’s G-Cloud framework, the EU’s GAIA-X initiative, and sovereign AI platforms in the UAE.
MoITT emphasised that these examples prove sovereign AI and global services are compatible. Locally, both public and private sectors in Pakistan continue to develop cloud infrastructure. This expansion aligns with the National AI Policy to advance the country’s AI ambitions.
