Big Data Policy for Pakistan: a few thoughts to initiate a dialogue

A few months back, I was asked by someone working for a government agency to share my thoughts on Big Data Policy for Pakistan. So following were my initial thoughts that I shared then:

• Pakistan's big data policy needs to be aligned with a grand vision that must come from the top. One example is Japan’s Declaration to be the World’s Most Advanced IT Nation. The identified Big Data as a key aspect for creating a society that encourages the creation of new and innovative industries and services. Similarly, South Korea created a Big Data Master Plan for the implementation of a Smart Nation. The updated version of the plan is: Mid- to Long-Term Master Plan in Preparation for the Intelligent Information Society. 
• In line with a set vision, Pakistan then needs to develop a big data ecosystem. We can use France as reference which has stated as its goal in the report The new face of industry in France: The goal of the “Big Data” initiative is to make France the world leader in this field. The initiative covers the entire spectrum of hurdles to be cleared: training data scientists, opening a technological resource center to speed up the growth of start-ups, supporting R&D, managing the crossover between technology and vertical markets (energy, smart cities, retailing, security) and providing dedicated seed funding.
• Pakistan also needs to consider data as a strategic resource - a fuel that will run the engine behind the digital economy. Countries like Australia have already outlined “data is a national asset” as one of the six principles behind their Public Service Big Data Strategy. France has also termed data as the fuel of the digital economy in the report mentioned in the previous point.
• As a part of the Big Data ecosystem, Pakistan needs to develop core technologies to collect, store, manage, analyze and share large data sets. Instead of building on proprietary systems from multinational corporations, it is in our best national interest to build this on top of open source. Like South Korea we should think about introducing a big data academy and other similar learning programs. Specialized research centers at major graduate schools can also be set up.
• Pakistan needs to identify application areas based on our national priorities around which the technology is developed. For example. the White House Big Data Research and Development Initiative focuses on areas such as health IT, emergency response and preparedness, clean energy, cyberlearning, material genome, national security, and advanced manufacturing.
• Pakistan also needs to consider developing public policies by analyzing big data. They can follow the Australian model that is aiming to do this in a quest to become the world leader in the big data field. UK Data Services, among other data related departments, is also using data to influence policies and debates.
• The appropriate government department needs to hold a consultative forum on how to use Big Data to enhance governance capability. This could be similar to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) 2014 which held a consultation forum to discuss the use of the data, among others, to: improve productivity of the public sector; strengthen the understanding of socioeconomic trends;
• Pakistan needs to develop national data repository e.g. data.gov.pk, similar to data.gov of USA. In addition to this all government departments need to develop an information asset register to support visibility between departments about what datasets they have available for reuse. Note: national data repository and departmental asset registries are not just for big data.
• Pakistan needs to develop a Big Data Practice Guide to address the key considerations for government departments when growing their capability in big data and big data analytics. For reference we can use the one developed by Australia. 
• Pakistan also needs legal frameworks to enable and aid the development of big data applications. In the UK, new legislation on data access is introduced in the Digital Economy Bill. As noted in this article, the bill provides a legal framework for sharing data between public authorities, where there is a clear public need and benefit.
• Pakistan needs to identify KPIs to ensure departments are embracing Big Data as expected. An example KPI at the department level is: number of applications that use Big Data. An example of KPI at the national level is given in the Japanese document referenced in first point: total value of new businesses and new services created through the use of big data.
• Pakistan should also organize multiple international conferences around Big Data. These can be more region-focused versions of global level conferences being held in China like: Big Data Technology Conference, Big Data & Analytics Innovation Summit, China Legal Big Data Symposium, Big Data Asia Showcase, and Big Data World Forum.

I hope this would help those who are working on any Big Data initiatives including policies. They will of course have to dig deeper and do any necessary alignment with the national needs and priorities of the government.

Credits: A big thanks to Meera Nadeem for proofreading and editing.

Disclaimer: the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.