Amin Ibrahim: Digital Sovereignty Starts With Homegrown Databases
At the 2nd Global Digital Forum, held in Moscow on October 8–10, digital sovereignty became a topic of discussion well beyond a narrow circle of specialists.
Participants are looking for ways to maintain technological independence while continuing to work together. Amin Ibrahim, a representative of Pakistan’s PAFLA association, spoke to the IT Russia media platform about how homegrown databases and IT training can help strengthen digital sovereignty.
– Pakistan is a large country, the fifth-largest in the world by population, and we have a very large young population. A significant share of our people are between 25 and 35 years old. Ten years ago, we saw that young people were struggling to find jobs. That’s why we founded our organization: to help young people access the international freelance market, develop digital skills and start their own businesses.
In the past, the focus was mainly on software development and graphic design, but AI is now gradually displacing people in these fields. That makes it especially important to develop skills in areas such as data science, cybersecurity and working with neural networks. These digital skills enable young people to work with clients around the world.
One of the major challenges facing the world today is a lack of digital sovereignty. We are discussing this issue at the forum, too. We need to train data scientists who can collect, organize and analyze information from different sources. There is a huge amount of information available today, but much of it has not been properly processed. That’s why we need data analytics and data integration professionals, as well as people who know how to work with AI agents. This opens up major opportunities for young people.
The most important step toward digital sovereignty is to build our own databases. Every country needs its own infrastructure and models, for example, to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness. Organizations and communities should have these tools, and ultimately, they should be available at the national level. Countries also need their own data centers.
I work with a large number of banks around the world, hundreds of them, you could say. Yet 95% of the banks I work with do not have a single, consolidated database. They have 10 to 15 departments that are not properly connected. That’s why it is important to establish information sharing within organizations first, and then tackle the same challenge at the national level.
Only after that can a country decide what information it is willing to share with the international community. It is also important to develop homegrown models and ensure that different government agencies and departments can work together.
Every country needs to build its own system for storing and processing information. This also creates new opportunities for young people: it helps identify promising areas for development and find work in the international market. We train young people in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal, and we hope to bring participants from Russia into this effort as well.
I invite young people in Russia to join our platform, PAFLA.org. We have two million members and have been providing training for nearly eight years. Both membership in the association and the training are free.
