Pakistan, June 12 -- Pakistan took a major leap in digital transformation as Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal officially launched the National Big Data Portal on Thursday. Developed by LUMS and backed by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the platform will offer centralized access to public data for researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and citizens. It includes geo-tagged data from over 40 million households and 8 million businesses, making national data more usable and accessible than ever before.

At the launch event, Ahsan Iqbal called the portal more than just a digital tool. He said it marks Pakistan's serious commitment to join the global data revolution. The minister acknowledged existing issues like outdated data systems an...