Swiss Company is Entering Pakistan to Help Build Local Cloud Services

The Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) and the DFINITY Foundation have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop sovereign, AI-native digital infrastructure in Pakistan.

The partnership aims to ensure that sensitive national data remains within the country while enabling secure and modern software systems designed for the AI era.

The agreement was signed between PDA and DFINITY in Islamabad and Zurich. Under the partnership, DFINITY will support the creation of a dedicated Pakistan Subnet on its Internet Computer Platform (ICP). The platform functions as a sovereign cloud capable of hosting tamper-resistant software, national-scale applications, and AI-powered systems that can operate independently of foreign cloud infrastructure.

The collaboration also includes plans to pilot a National Messenger application to enable private and verifiable communications. In addition, the partnership will expand access to Caffeine, an AI platform incubated by DFINITY, through the provision of 1,500 Caffeine licenses. These licenses will support application development and capacity-building initiatives across government, education, and entrepreneurship.

DFINITY will also establish a local presence in Pakistan as part of the agreement, aimed at supporting long-term collaboration and ongoing technical engagement.

Dr. Sohail Munir, Chairperson of the Pakistan Digital Authority, said the partnership represents an important step in Pakistan’s digital development. He said investing in sovereign cloud infrastructure and AI-ready platforms will strengthen national resilience, support innovation, and create opportunities for public institutions, students, and entrepreneurs.

Dominic Williams, Chief Scientist and Founder of DFINITY and Caffeine, said Pakistan is adopting a forward-looking approach to digital infrastructure. He said the establishment of a Pakistan Subnet and investment in sovereign, tamper-proof systems will allow the country to develop secure and verifiable software and AI applications aligned with national priorities. He added that the partnership enables Pakistan to build, own, and operate AI and cloud services on its own terms.

Caffeine allows users to build and deploy production-ready applications on the Internet Computer using natural language descriptions, removing the need for traditional engineering teams and complex development processes. The platform is used globally by solo developers, municipalities, banks, and public institutions. Within three months of its launch, users executed more than 3.4 million build prompts.

DFINITY is the creator of the Internet Computer, an open network that provides a serverless sovereign cloud. The platform allows governments, institutions, and individuals to run tamper-proof and resilient software with full ownership and without reliance on foreign cloud providers or access by foreign intelligence agencies.

DFINITY has invested more than $500 million in research and development. Its team includes engineers and researchers formerly associated with Google, Apple, IBM, and Meta. The organization has published more than 1,500 research papers, received over 88,000 citations, and contributed more than 190 patents in areas including distributed systems, cryptography, and advanced computing.

The Pakistan Digital Authority is the federal body responsible for leading Pakistan’s digital transformation under the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025. PDA oversees digital policy, data and AI governance, national digital infrastructure, and shared government platforms, with the goal of ensuring interoperability, security, and alignment across federal and provincial institutions.

DFINITY is a non-profit organization focused on developing the Internet Computer and transforming the internet into a public sovereign cloud capable of hosting next-generation software and services. Founded in 2016, DFINITY operates research centers in Zurich and San Francisco.