–President Ali, says Gov’t leveraging resources, AI, digitisation to adapt, position country at global forefront

SIGNALLING the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Administration’s unwavering commitment to leveraging the country’s growing energy resources to drive economic transformation and adapting newer technologies in digitisation and artificial intelligence (AI), President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said, it must translate into tangible advantages that place the nation at the forefront of regional and global development.

“When you look at global leadership on different issues, AI is disrupting the way and nature in which things are being done. Digitisation is disrupting the norm. And if you can’t adapt to these things, then you will not be able to be competitive. That is why we’ll be building out an AI and digital, digitised infrastructure, not only for Guyana, but for the region that will be second to none,” President Ali said during a recent broadcast interview.

President Ali stressed that Guyana is rapidly positioning itself to be ahead of global competitors.

“The energy that we have is a blessing now and must be able to position our country to be ahead of the competition and to be part of this whole change, the global change that is taking place.”

Recently President Ali announced that Guyana will begin the large-scale implementation and distribution of the electronic identification system.

The President also assured that there will be public awareness and education as the government looks to roll out the initiative.
Dr. Ali was the first to receive his E-ID back in August.

The biometric cards will not only offer citizens preferential treatment in certain areas but will also strengthen border control by monitoring who is entering the country.
The cards will be important for daily transactions, including opening bank accounts, and are a critical part of Guyana’s wider digital transformation agenda.

In January, the border control and engagement system went live and has since seen improved security at the airports and border crossings and assured accuracy and reliability in the verification of travel using state-of-the-art technology and rigorous processes aligned with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.
The government, too, is creating service centres in every region, where citizens can visit, conduct their businesses, and have queries handled within their home regions, eliminating the need to travel to Georgetown for government services.

Already, the government has begun the rollout of several innovative technology initiatives aimed at improving access to basic services, which has seen the country heading into a new era with several digital and artificial intelligence-led platforms aimed at improving access to government services and enhancing security.

Earlier this week the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the country’s immigration support services have moved to a new digitised system.

This took effect on Sunday and the existing website, eservices.iss.gov.gy is expected to be down temporarily.

This will reduce the need for in-person visits to offices, cutting and eventually eliminating long wait times, and streamlining the process that is currently done manually.

In addition to this, in January, the border control system went live, and has since seen improved security at the airports and border crossings and assured accuracy and reliability in the verification of travel using state-of-the-art technology and rigorous processes aligned with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.