*Federal Minister for IT & Telecom, Addresses FAST University on “Securing Pakistan’s Digital Frontier: CyberShield, Policy & the Future”
Islamabad : Federal Minister for IT & Telecom, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, addressed a distinguished gathering at FAST National University the theme “Securing Pakistan’s Digital Frontier: CyberShield, Policy & the Future.” Hosted by the FAST Public Policy and Research Society (FPPRS), she was welcomed by Director Dr. Waseem Shahzad, Dean Dr. Sadia Nadeem, FPPRS President Zainab Inam Cheema, faculty members, and students.
Minister underscored that Pakistan’s digital transformation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, bringing with it the vital responsibility to safeguard national digital infrastructure and citizen data. She highlighted Pakistan’s Tier-1 ranking in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index as a reflection of the collective commitment of the government, academia, and the youth toward building a secure digital future.
The Minister outlined the government’s whole-of-nation approach to cybersecurity, underscoring major reforms including the National Cybersecurity Policy 2021, the forthcoming Cybersecurity Act 2025, and the Digital Nation Act. She noted that the Cybersecurity Act will establish the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) to lead incident response and threat intelligence nationwide, while PkCERT expansion and secure digital public infrastructure under the DEEP project will strengthen national cyber resilience. She credited the leadership of the Prime Minister, Field Marshal, Cabinet, and SIFC for advancing the AI Policy and for embedding technological transformation at the core of national development and security.
The Federal Minister also referred to the recent Marka-e-Haq, noting that it was a defining moment where, under the leadership of the Field Marshal, the armed forces, national institutions, and cyber experts stood united with remarkable resilience. She emphasized that Pakistan’s effective and coordinated cyber warfare response during this period demonstrated unparalleled national strength and technological capability.
Minister Shaza Fatima added that Marka-e-Haq proved that in the modern era, the cyber domain is the first line of defense and Pakistan has shown the world that it can safeguard its digital frontiers with confidence and competence.
During the visit, the Federal Minister also toured FAST-NU Islamabad’s IC Design Lab, where she met scholars enrolled in Ignite’s flagship training initiative, “Training in IC Design & Verification.” She interacted with faculty and students, appreciating their work in advanced chip design and verification. Under this Ignite-funded program, 30 young engineers; including 7 talented female participants, are undergoing a rigorous 10-month intensive training program covering IC design, verification, and fabrication processes. Implemented by FAST-NU, the program offers hands-on training aligned with global semiconductor industry standards. The selected engineers were chosen through a competitive process, and the curriculum is designed to be equivalent to a postgraduate diploma, with participants eligible to pursue an MS degree through an additional six credit hours.
Minister Shaza Fatima highlighted that Pakistan is advancing rapidly toward AI-driven cybersecurity, dark-web monitoring, cloud security through the Cloud-First Policy, and secure identity frameworks. She emphasized that cybersecurity requires strong public-private cooperation, praising the Digital Pakistan Cybersecurity Hackathon for identifying and nurturing national cyber talent;many of whom now represent Pakistan at global competitions, including Black Hat MEA. The Minister concluded that Pakistan’s long-term objective is to build a cyber-resilient, innovation driven digital nation Pakistan where secure infrastructure, technological excellence, and human capital development move forward together.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
