Ex-Google executive Tania Aidrus back to Digital Pakistan project

• Aidrus was former head of Strategic Initiatives on NBU team at Google.
• She served as Digital Pakistan head and SAPM during PTI govt till 2022.
• Noted tech expert holds MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
  

Former Google executive Tania Aidrus, who headed Digital Pakistan’s initiative in December 2019 during the rule of ousted prime minister Imran Khan, became part of the federal government’s digitisation project, yet again, following the approval of incumbent premier Shehbaz Sharif.

Tania Aidrus, a former Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Initiatives on the Next Billion Users (NBU) team at the US tech giant, was appointed as “convener” of the Digital Pakistan committee, a notification issued by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication read.

According to the ministry, the committee will be headed by the federal state minister for IT, whereas, the secretary of the IT ministry was also included in the team.

The committee would compile recommendations for the country’s ambitious project pursuing digitisation infrastructure in various sectors in line with the modern technologies and innovations, besides ensuring transparency and ease in government processes.

Aidrus spent more than half her life outside Pakistan, studying at the world's best schools and working at the forefront of the global tech industry before being approached by the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration aiming to uplift government processes matching the global standards of the digital age.

She holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management and a BSc from Brandeis University.

Prior to her appointment as a Google executive, Tania co-founded a mobile health diagnosis company called ClickDiagnostics which connected rural patients in emerging markets to doctors around the world.

The tech expert was also inducted into the federal cabinet led by ex-PM Khan in 2019 as special assistant to the prime minister, however, she faced an unceremonious exit from the PM’s House in July 2022 due to her Canadian nationality which she mentioned in her resignation and a post on X.

Some reports also suggested that one more reason for her departure was establishing a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which also sparked a debate on conflict of interest.