Govt plans AI-enabled services with 'no one left behind': PM's ICT adviser

The government wants to use artificial intelligence to make public services smarter without compromising privacy, security or the inclusion of citizens unable to keep pace with digitalisation, said Rehan Asad, adviser to the prime minister on ICT and telecommunications, today.

"We want to make sure we leave no one behind," he said at an event at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.

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The government was designing the "One Citizen One ID" system around five principles: simplicity, privacy, security, inclusivity and interoperability (the ability of different systems to work together), he said. 

These would guide it "from the architecture, the planning, to the implementation," the adviser said at a session titled "Who Decides When the Model Decides? AI in the Machinery of the State," organised by the Centre for Governance Studies.

The adviser said the government would use the latest technologies, including AI, but technology itself would not determine the system's design.

"We want to build a system which will make people's lives easier, people's access to government services faster and more secure, and we want to make the Government of Bangladesh more human and more technologically advanced," he said.

In practical terms, Rehan said the planned digital infrastructure would connect services currently scattered across government agencies.

"Whether you, as a citizen, want to have your education certificate --that should be built into your citizen portal," he said.

Citizens should also be able to access medical records, documents and utility-related services through the same portal, he added.

"So, we are building an inclusive system to make people's lives smarter, simpler, safer, and more inclusive," Rehan said.