ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) is set for a major restructuring as part of the $77.73 million “Digital Economy Enhancement Project” (DEEP) being implemented with support from the World Bank.
The initiative aims to strengthen the government’s capacity to deliver digitally enabled services to citizens and businesses.
Under the project, the ministry has initiated the process of hiring a consulting firm to design a roadmap for restructuring. The consultancy will evaluate MoITT’s existing organizational structure, highlight gaps, and provide actionable recommendations to transform the ministry over the next decade.
Expressions of Interest (EOI) from qualified consulting firms have been invited, and the selection will be carried out under the Consultant’s Qualification-based Selection (CQS) method, following the World Bank’s procurement regulations.
The restructuring exercise is part of a broader plan to prepare Pakistan’s public sector for a rapidly changing digital landscape. The project, financed through an IBRD loan, will focus on three major areas.
The first area, with a $58 million allocation, aims to improve the government’s digital economy governance and service delivery by establishing key digital public infrastructure, integrating databases, strengthening data security, and developing a citizen services portal. It also seeks to enhance government resilience against future shocks such as pandemics and natural disasters.
The second focus area is the launch of a Pakistan Business Portal, a $15 million effort to streamline regulatory compliance for businesses. The Board of Investment (BoI) will lead this initiative, which will involve creating a digital inventory of registrations, licenses, and certificates across federal, provincial, and municipal levels, and integrating them into a one-window online platform for businesses.
The third component, with a budget of $5 million, will establish a centralized Project Management Unit (PMU) at MoITT and four Project Implementation Units (PIUs) at NADRA, NITB/PITB, Ignite, and BoI. These units will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day project management, procurement, and communications activities.
The DEEP project, aligned with Pakistan’s Digital Policy 2018, is expected to help the government modernize service delivery and support the growth of the country’s digital economy.
