Pakistan’s birth, death records go digital; Tencent expands

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In a bid to advance its digitization efforts, Pakistan has initiated a comprehensive digital platform designed to systematically record birth and death events nationwide.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is leading the initiative and will onboard other government agencies. It has inked a tripartite deal with local governments to launch the digital birth and death registration platform.

“NADRA is modernizing the civil registration and vital events registration system,” said NADRA in an X post. “Birth and death information will be available directly in hospitals and health centers thanks to the digital system.”

The nationwide rollout will change the landscape for birth and death registrations across Pakistani hospitals. Prior to the digital platforms, civil registrations relied on manual processes plagued by undue delays and the risks of human error in inputting details.

The new initiative has received plaudits from a broad spectrum, with international and local organizations highlighting the benefits of streamlined record-keeping. Hospitals will be able to register births and deaths with NADRA in real-time without the downsides of delays, steep costs, and errors.

Furthermore, turning to digital record-keeping offers NADRA the perks of transparency and immutability, adding a layer of credibility to the system. NADRA notes that the data will play a key role in planning economic policies under the government’s Uraan Pakistan initiative.

“It will be possible to enter accurate and complete information in the citizens’ database in a timely manner,” added NADRA in the X post. 

NADRA disclosed that it will push the frontiers of digitization with a new partnership with the World Bank. Dubbed the 
Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP), local authorities and the World Bank will collaborate to improve the state of emerging technologies in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s latest integration of advanced technology in civil registrations follows a growing list of next-gen technology use cases in the country. The country has previously made a play toward increasing its digital wallet coverage, improving its financial inclusion metrics.

Elsewhere, Chinese technology giant Tencent (NASDAQ: TCTZF) has unveiled plans to double down on the size of its overseas investments in emerging technologies.

The Internet company is eyeing an expansion of its overseas commitments on the back of impressive financials over the last quarter. Executives shared the plans at the Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Summit in Guangdong, signaling increased capital injection in operations outside China.

Tencent’s financials for 2024 saw revenues increase by 8%, with the technology giant racking up 660.3 billion yuan ($91.5 billion) over the year. Recent figures show that operating and gross profits surged to new highs, driven by a risky gamble in artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023 and 2024.

Buoyed by glowing financial metrics, Tencent says it will invest $500 million to build a data center in Indonesia to meet rising demand in Southeast Asia. Tencent has previously set up two data centers in Indonesia and is keen to expand its footprint in the country.

The China-based company is eyeing the Middle East, with ambitious plans to spend $150 million to set up a data center in Saudi Arabia, its first in the oil-rich Gulf State. 

Company executives at the Summit hint at a broader expansion of its cloud computing business. Over the last three years, Tencent’s aggressive expansionist plans have seen it onboard 10,000 customers across 80 countries.

On the home front, Tencent’s cloud computing business has recorded meteoric growth, setting up data centers in leading economic hubs in China. A hefty investment in research and development in the first quarter of 2025, particularly with large language models (LLMs), suggests an inclusion of AI in its expansionist plans.

Apart from cloud computing services, Tencent has hinted at plans to roll out its suite of AI services to a global audience. Tencent’s Hunyuan AI model has received praise for its range of capabilities, with the company famously reshuffling its metaverse department to focus on AI. 

Previously, Tencent dabbled with blockchain-based invoices while developing its permissioned distributed ledger for internal operations.

Chinese technology companies are giving United States-based firms a run for their money despite a head start. In AI, DeepSeek threatens ChatGPT and Gemini’s dominance, given its low development cost and impressive capabilities.

Amid the growing macroeconomic tensions between both nations, China is turning its gaze inwards to develop semiconductors for its AI push. For now, Chinese researchers have discovered a novel approach to pruning LLMs, while the launch of Supermind is tipped to give the country an edge in the AI arms race.

Watch: What can organizations do to get on the Web3 & digital identity bus?