Toward Technology-Enabled Disaster Management: Institutional Barriers and Opportunities in Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose: Pakistan's disaster management institutions still rely mainly on conventional, response-driven systems, even as artificial intelligence (AI), geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and mobile-based early-warning platforms take on a growing role in disaster risk reduction elsewhere. This study examines what constrains the adoption of these disruptive technologies within Pakistan's disaster management institutions and where the opportunities lie for a more technology-enabled approach. Design: A qualitative design was adopted. Seventeen key informants from federal and provincial disaster management authorities, national and international non-governmental organisations, academia and the information-technology sector were purposively sampled and interviewed in depth until thematic saturation was reached. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis framework and interpreted through the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory. Findings: Four interrelated barriers emerged: institutional and policy-level fragmentation, weak physical and digital infrastructure, financial constraints tied to donor dependency, and socio-cultural resistance rooted in low digital literacy and mistrust of formal institutions. Five opportunities counterbalanced these constraints: expanding mobile and internet connectivity, growing inter-institutional and academic collaboration, a maturing domestic IT sector, curriculum reform in higher education, and an observable shift from reactive to proactive disaster governance. Policy implications: The findings offer disaster management authorities a basis for designing coordination mechanisms, sustainable financing instruments and community-level digital literacy programmes that can convert existing technological potential into operational capacity. Value: Prior research on disaster management in Pakistan has largely examined policy frameworks or single-hazard case studies. This study treats technology adoption itself, its institutional, financial, infrastructural and cultural preconditions, as the central unit of analysis, extending Complex Adaptive Systems theory to the country's disaster–technology interface.