GCC mulls employing AI in govt services sector

HE the President of the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau Abdulaziz bin Nasser bin Mubarak al- Khalifa said that the training programme 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the government sector: opportunities and challenges", which started Monday, is the first of the joint efforts in discussing the role of AI in the government sector.
He explained that the programme is an implementation of a proposal submitted by Qatar during the meeting of ministers and heads of civil service bureaus in the GCC countries to hold joint training programmes in this field. He praised the effective role of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology in developing government services using artificial intelligence.
The Civil Service and Government Development Bureau launched Monday the three-day training programme "AI in the government sector: opportunities and challenges", which is presented by the Institute of Public Administration, with the participation of 19 trainees from the GCC countries.
The programme aims to introduce the trainees to AI and its role in raising the efficiency of the government , by introducing them to the available opportunities and challenges facing decision-makers, and identifying the ethical considerations associated with the use of these technologies and their relevance to cybersecurity.
For his part, the Institute of Public Administration's Director Raed Ibrahim al-Emadi said this programme comes at the core of the institute's mission to cooperate with local, regional and international partners to exchange experiences and share knowledge in order to draw a road map for dealing with AI and its applications to advance government services.
In the context, Director of Government Development Affairs at the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau Hassan Abdulrahman Al Ibrahim stressed the importance of holding such programs, given the recent trends in the application of AI and its implications and risks, in addition to the ethical issues related to it. He pointed out that the Service Bureau has worked during the past period to include AI techniques in many of its initiatives, with the aim of improving the efficiency of government services.
The idea is based on holding training programmes and workshops in rotation among the member states of the Council by convening two training sessions annually during a period of three years.