World Bank-supported DEEP: Govt to hire consultancy firm for digital framework

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to hire consultancy firm for Citizen-Centric Service Insights, Analysis & Complete Assessment for Digitalization under the Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP) worth $77.73 million.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication in collaboration with the World Bank is implementing DEEP. The main objective of the programme is “to enhance the government’s capacity for digitally enabled public services delivery for citizens and businesses.”

The objective of this consultancy is to support the development and implementation of the National Citizen Portal in Pakistan by conducting a comprehensive assessment of public services, identifying gaps, and designing a scalable and interoperable digital framework. This includes compiling an extensive service inventory across federal and provincial agencies, prioritising services for digitisation through a structured gap analysis, and establishing a robust service architecture that ensures seamless integration between government systems.

The consultancy will also focus on business process reengineering to enhance service efficiency and user experience while ensuring compliance with national standards and regulations

The DEEP proposes a whole of government approach to develop the framework and technology that will increase access to and promote the use of digital services across Pakistan.

The project will develop Pakistan Digital Government Enterprise Architecture, which will create a government ecosystem transcending existing processes and siloed departments, including by mapping roles and responsibilities and setting key principles across technology, business, information, and service design. This digitalisation will not only provide ease to citizens and businesses but would also enable higher degree of transparency, lower the cost of processing, and increase the tax collection capabilities of the federal and provincial governments which is one of the priority focus areas of the government.

The scope of work for this consultancy firm includes the comprehensive assessment, design, and implementation support for the National Citizen Portal in Pakistan. This involves compiling an exhaustive inventory of public services across federal and provincial agencies, conducting a gap analysis to prioritise services for digitisation, and designing a scalable service architecture that ensures interoperability between government systems.

The consultancy will also focus on reengineering business processes to improve efficiency and user experience, while coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment with national standards and regulations.

The consultancy firm will be responsible for providing a robust super app and web portal framework based on a scalable and secure architecture to integrate citizen services across the country. This includes customisation to meet diverse user needs and government requirements, ensuring multi-channel service access across mobile, web, and other digital platforms for a seamless user experience.

The firm must also ensure data security and privacy protocols to safeguard user information while complying with local/international data and cybersecurity standards. Additionally, it will be responsible for digital payment integration to facilitate secure and efficient financial transactions.

Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements is essential to align with national and international frameworks. Furthermore, the firm must provide comprehensive reporting and documentation to maintain transparency and support informed decision-making processes.

The consultancy firm shall conduct comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessments to identify potential security threats and areas of risk. It will ensure strict compliance with relevant data protection and security regulations or laws. Additionally, the firm will perform thorough penetration testing and complete end-to-end system testing to validate the security and resilience of the platform.

The consultancy firm shall implement robust quality assurance processes to ensure the National Citizen Portal meets the highest standards of functionality, performance, security, and user experience. This includes defining and executing comprehensive test plans, conducting rigorous testing at every stage of development, and verifying that the portal complies with defined requirements, regulatory standards, and industry best practices.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025