Pakistan has directed federal and provincial public sector entities to prioritize cloud services for new IT investments. The move aims to reduce spending on costly data centers and improve digital services. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication shared the development in the National Assembly. It said the Pakistan Cloud First Policy (PCFP) promotes secure and efficient use of cloud technology across government institutions.
The Federal Cabinet approved the policy in February 2022. Since then, all provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan have aligned their cloud policies with the federal framework. Under the policy, public sector entities should use cloud infrastructure instead of building separate data centers. The government expects this approach to cut both capital and operating costs.
The government has also approved an accreditation and procurement framework for cloud service providers. Both public and private providers can serve government entities if they meet the required standards.
So far, seven cloud service providers have submitted formal accreditation applications. The government developed the criteria with stakeholders to address national security needs and global technical standards.
The cloud framework also works alongside rules from sector regulators. These include cybersecurity requirements from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the State Bank of Pakistan. The National CERT and sector-specific CERTs will also continue issuing cybersecurity advisories. These measures aim to help government institutions respond to emerging digital threats.
Data sovereignty remains a key part of the policy. Cloud infrastructure hosting restricted, confidential, or secret government data must be physically located within Pakistan. The government has classified public sector data into five categories: Open, Public, Restricted, Confidential, and Secret. Each category carries different protection requirements.
The policy marks a shift in how Pakistan plans to build its government IT infrastructure. Instead of each institution maintaining costly data centers, agencies can use scalable cloud services under a common framework.
