During the event, Al Qaed took part in several conference sessions, most mainly mainly the closed-door session titled “AI on the International Stage,” where he highlighted the Kingdom of Bahrain’s experience in adopting artificial intelligence and advancing toward an AI-drivendriven digital government. He showcased showcased Bahrain’s approach that is built on three main pillars: a supportive legislative environment through the launch of the National AIAI Policy, developing the National AI Strategy, and strengthening the ethical framework through the Kingdom’s AI Ethics Principles, which have also been adopted at the GCC level.
Al Qaed further emphasized Bahrain’s focus on capacity building, skills development, and applied research partnerships through a range of initiatives, including the initiative launched by the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Court and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labour Fund “Tamkeen”, to train 50,000 Bahrainis in AI by 2030.AI by 2030. In addition, more than 70 AI-related academic programs have been introduced in partnership with civil society organizations, universities, and the private sector in the Kingdom. Bahrain has also launched bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in AI, alongside the development of the Technical Development Program and the AI Talents Program under the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA).
Al Qaed also highlighted Bahrain’s commitment to the social and cultural dimensions of AI awareness by launching hundreds of awareness sessions across government entities and educational institutions, in addition to implementing targeted campaigns for executive, supervisory, and operational levels. On the infrastructure front, he noted the establishment of the Innovation Lab at the iGA to support government entities, the private sector, and academics in developing innovative AI-based prototypes and pilot projects. These efforts are further strengthened by Bahrain’s leadership in cloud computing adoption, which has created an enabling environment for AI applications across government entities, while also contributing to the Kingdom’s advanced global rankings in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) indicators, as well as the United Nations eGovernment and cybersecurity indices.
The Chief Executive also noted that Bahrain has incorporated artificial intelligence and emerging technologies as key pillars of its Digital Economy Strategy, while accelerating AI-driven services across multiple sectors, strengthening the innovation and digital transformation ecosystem, and supporting entrepreneurship through the iGA’s Innovation Lab and the Regulatory Sandbox of the Central Bank of Bahrain. He also emphasized the Kingdom’s efforts to encourage investment in AI technologies.
Al Qaed affirmed that these foundations have contributed to the development of several AI-powered prototypes, including an intelligent business and economic data analytics system, a national generative virtual assistant to support government services, enhancements to the “Tawasul” system to improve response quality, the “Sijilat” system for intelligent document verification, and the “Consumer Guard” system designed to automate and accelerate the review of advertising campaigns, in addition to several other projects currently under development.
He mentioned that these pillars and initiatives represent Bahrain’s AI roadmap, which today focuses on developing an integrated national data infrastructure, formulating a national strategy that defines future priorities and objectives, strengthening education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), launching nationwide AI awareness campaigns, and enhancing collaboration across sectors while supporting ethical AI research.He mentioned that these pillars and initiatives represent Bahrain’s AI roadmap, which today focuses on developing an integrated national data infrastructure, formulating a national strategy that defines future priorities and objectives, strengthening education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), launching nationwide AI awareness campaigns, and enhancing collaboration across sectors while supporting ethical AI research.
On the AI governance side, Al Qaed stressed during the session the importance of establishing clear, practical, enforceable, and accountable measures that enable governments to adopt AI responsibly and improve public services through sustainable innovation. He explained that Bahrain’s adoption of digital policies, ethical guidelines, open data frameworks, cloud computing, and capacity-building programs has strengthened the trusted and responsible use of AI, transforming principles such as fairness, non-discrimination, privacy, and data protection into practical governmental guidelines.
Al Qaed also noted the importance of preparing leaders and talents capable of maximizing the benefits of AI, developing specialists in building and evaluating AI systems, and establishing regulatory bodies capable of assessing associated risks. He highlighted several national initiatives implemented in this field, including the Innovation Hub, the AI Talents Program, and the AI Academy at Bahrain Polytechnic in cooperation with Microsoft, in addition to AI hackathons. He also pointed to Bahrain’s participation in the UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment Methodology and its role in enhancing the Kingdom’s national readiness for the ethical and responsible adoption of AI, while raising awareness and engaging both the public and private sectors.
In addition, the Chief Executive participated in a special session on Agentic AI, organized by Google, during which he addressed the importance of data connectivity and showcased Bahrain’s successful experience in implementing electronic integration and interoperability among all government entities, building on the national open data network.