Bahrain, UK partner for new AI procurement rules

Khalid Al-Rumaihi, CEO of Bahrain Economic Development Board

Bahrain has announced it will pilot new guidelines for the procurement of artificial intelligence in the public sector, produced by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Center for the fourth industrial revolution. The announcement was made by the WEF and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) — the public agency tasked with attracting investment to the country — at the WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China.
The center announced in 2017 that it would bring governments, businesses, startups and civil society together to co-design guidelines to empower governments to responsibly and sustainably deploy AI technology.
It partnered with the UK government to help design the guidelines and assess them in real-world conditions. Bahrain will join the UK in piloting the framework and providing feedback.
Khalid Al-Rumaihi, chief executive of the EDB, said: “When it comes to the governance and regulation of emerging technologies, Bahrain has earned a reputation as the Middle East’s testbed thanks to its innovative regulatory framework, strong technology ecosystem and rapid shift to e-government.”
He added: “AI can deliver huge benefits to citizens, but it needs a robust framework for successful implementation, and this project with WEF will build a global knowledge-base that can be used by other governments to sustainably and responsibly introduce AI across their public sector institutions.”