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| Pakistan's Largest AI Data Centre 'Sky47 Karakoram-01' |
Islamabad — Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, alongside Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir, officially inaugurated Pakistan’s first purpose-built, AI-ready data centre campus—Sky47 Karakoram-01.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the Sky47 project as an important advancement toward a dynamic, progressive, and technologically sovereign future. He emphasized that confronting modern challenges with determination and unity will pave the way for historic national achievements and economic growth.
Key Highlights from the Ceremony
- Digital Sovereignty & Security: The Prime Minister stated that this state-of-the-art facility provides secure infrastructure and digital sovereignty for Pakistan's national data assets.
- Rapid Project Completion: PM Shehbaz commended the project leaders and partners for completing the high-tech facility in an extraordinarily short period through technical expertise and strong resolve.
- National Expansion: The government announced plans to replicate this model by establishing similar high-performance data infrastructure in major commercial hubs like Karachi and Lahore.
- Institutional Integration: The Prime Minister urged all federal government institutions to integrate with the Sky47 facility to streamline public administration and digital governance.
Driving Economic Growth Through Artificial Intelligence
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the launch of the Sky47 Data Center marks the beginning of a new economic era powered by artificial intelligence. She emphasized that secure, low-cost, and effective utilization of data, GPUs, and high-performance computing systems are essential for Pakistan to compete in the global digital economy.
Leadership from Sky47 noted that with Pakistan’s e-commerce sector growing at 25% to 30% annually, expanding the country's data centre capacity is critical to laying a strong foundation for long-term technological self-reliance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Data Center Water Consumption
1. How much water does an AI Data Center use daily?
- Average Data Center: Uses roughly 300,000 gallons of water per day for cooling (equivalent to the daily usage of ~1,000 households).
- Large / AI Data Centers: Can consume between 1 million to 5 million gallons of water per day.
2. How much water does a single AI query (like ChatGPT) consume?
- Direct On-Site Cooling: Approximately 0.32 mL to 1 mL per query (less than 1/15th of a teaspoon).
- Total Estimate (Including Power Plant Water): Around 10 mL to 50 mL per short-to-medium interaction if factoring in the indirect water used by electric power grids to generate electricity.
3. Why do Data Centers need so much water?
- Heat Management: High-performance AI servers and GPUs generate massive amounts of heat.
- Evaporative Cooling: Water towers absorb heat from the facility and evaporate it into the air to keep the processors at safe operating temperatures.
4. What are modern data centers doing to save water?
- Closed-Loop Systems: Recycling the same cooling water continuously can cut freshwater demand by up to 70%.
- Liquid & Air Cooling: Shifting toward direct-to-chip liquid cooling or air-based designs that drastically reduce overall evaporative water loss.
The main purpose of the Sky47 Karakoram-01 Data Centre is to establish Pakistan’s first high-capacity, AI-ready digital infrastructure to power the country's technology sector and protect its data.
Key Goals & Purpose
- Digital Sovereignty & Security: Allows Pakistan's government institutions, military, banks, and healthcare providers to host critical data locally within the country instead of relying on foreign servers.
- Powering Artificial Intelligence: Provides the high-performance computing power, GPUs, and cloud infrastructure required to train AI models and run advanced tech applications.
- Economic Growth: Supports Pakistan's rapidly expanding e-commerce and digital economy, helping local businesses scale securely.
- Technological Self-Reliance: Reduces dependency on overseas tech infrastructure by building Tier III/IV certified hyperscale data centers inside Pakistan.