Pakistan inaugurates largest Sky47 Karakoram One

Pakistan unveiled Sky47’s major AI-ready data-centre complex in Islamabad, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir leading the inauguration of Karakoram-01, described as the country’s largest data centre. The facility, priced as an 8.5 MW hub with plans for a second 5 MW data centre at Port Qasim in Karachi by September, is pitched as a cornerstone of Pakistan’s digital infrastructure, cloud services, AI, ML and high-performance computing capabilities. Officials emphasized sovereign cloud architecture, data security and hosting sensitive national and commercial data within Pakistan, framing Sky47 as a flagship project for technological self-reliance and a new era of digital economy growth. The government highlighted collaboration across military and civilian sectors, with praise for project partner ZTE and other stakeholders as essential to delivering the platform. Reports also note that Sky47 is part of a broader strategy to modernize digital services for government, financial institutions, telecoms and other sectors while enabling closer data control and new economic opportunities. The initiative is linked to Mari Energies’ Sky47 ecosystem and marks a visible milestone in Pakistan’s push to expand AI-ready infrastructure while closing gaps with international peers through rapid development.