At a simple yet solemn signing ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan's blueprint towards an AI powered autonomous future was quietly illuminated. On October 18, 2024, Data Vault Pakistan and the Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence Technology (CoE AITeC) under the National Physical Center officially signed a strategic memorandum of understanding to jointly launch a five-year local artificial intelligence capacity building program. This is not only a collaboration between the two institutions, but also a crucial step for Pakistan to integrate its scientific research capabilities and computing infrastructure at the national level.

After signing the contract, Mavis Salman, CEO of Pakistan Data Cloud Library, said, "This is not just a technical cooperation, but also an important effort for Pakistan to master its own destiny in the digital age. We hope to use fully autonomous and controllable infrastructure to carry the country's cutting-edge scientific research tasks and sensitive data, truly promoting technological sovereignty and economic growth

Five year cooperation framework, targeting AI independent research and development

According to the agreement, both parties will establish a long-term and scalable cooperation model, focusing on promoting the research and development of local artificial intelligence technology in Pakistan, accelerating the construction of computing capabilities for graphics processors, and developing cloud and edge artificial intelligence service platforms. The initial validity period of the cooperation is five years and can be extended, providing stable and reliable enterprise level AI infrastructure support for Pakistani research institutions.

Security and controllability become the core, safeguarding scientific research and data

The memo repeatedly emphasizes "safety and reliability" and "autonomy and controllability". This means that in the future, Pakistan's high-performance computing, sensitive scientific research datasets, and critical task loads will all operate on artificial intelligence infrastructure built and managed within the country, maximizing data sovereignty and technological security, echoing Pakistan's strategic direction of promoting digital sovereignty and reducing external dependence in recent years.

Build a regional AI and scientific computing center

This collaboration is placed under the national vision of Pakistan becoming a regional center for artificial intelligence, scientific computing, and digital innovation. By integrating top research institutions and local computing resources, Pakistan hopes to build a full chain AI ecosystem from research and development to application, attract talent and investment, and promote innovation driven economic development. Keywords: New Infrastructure Latest News

Although the signing ceremony was low-key, it sent a clear signal that Pakistan is steadily advancing its national strategy for artificial intelligence and striving to find its own path in the rapidly developing global AI landscape. At a time when countries are competing to lay out AI infrastructure, Pakistan's move is not only to solidify its technological foundation internally, but also to demonstrate its determination to promote digital transformation externally.Editor/Yang Meiling