Papua New Guinea is beginning an ambitious shift toward embedding artificial intelligence within government decision-making processes. Prime Minister James Marape has announced that 2026 will mark the beginning of a transition toward data-driven governance where AI tools assist policymakers in analyzing national development indicators. The initiative aims to improve planning across sectors such as infrastructure, resource management and public service delivery. Government officials believe machine-learning systems can help synthesize large datasets from ministries and provincial governments, enabling more accurate forecasting and policy evaluation. The strategy reflects a broader trend among developing economies exploring AI as a way to overcome limited administrative capacity. For Papua New Guinea, the adoption of AI is being framed not as a technology experiment but as a structural modernization of government itself. If implemented successfully, the program could become one of the first examples in the Pacific where artificial intelligence directly informs national policy decisions.
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