Pakistonomy - Episode 104 - Combating the Pandemic with Data

The COVID-19 pandemic, a once-in-a-century event, caused widespread socioeconomic upheaval in the world. In Pakistan, there were fears that the country would descend into chaos, but the country was able to navigate this crisis without realizing the worst-case scenarios. Credit for this goes to the Khan government and the NCOC, which did an excellent job coordinating the public health response to the pandemic. In this episode, Uzair talks to Maha Rehman and dives deeper into how a data-led approach helped deal with the crisis, and how collaboration across the border in India also played a role. Maha is a data analytics specialist and has almost a decade of experience in designing and executing evidence-based programs, products and policies to improve service delivery and impact. She has also setup the Analytics Wing at CERP that is focused on embedding data in the decisions and operations of private and public sector companies to increase efficiency, impact and profit. Prior to this, she has led research experiments at CERP and at World Bank in the fields of education, public finance and governance.