𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐋𝐚𝐛 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

…𝑮𝒐𝒗𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉, 𝑫𝑯𝑰, 𝑻𝑻𝑷𝑳, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑶𝒎𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑨𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉-𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands at the forefront of reshaping the global landscape, promising profound advancements across economies, societies, and individual livelihoods. As AI continues its rapid evolution, its transformative potential becomes increasingly evident, streamlining daily tasks, empowering human creativity, and paving the way for unprecedented innovation. In this era of digital acceleration, nations like Bhutan are seizing the opportunity to harness AI’s capabilities not only to enhance productivity and efficiency but also to foster sustainable development and elevate the well-being of their citizens.

Investing in AI is one of the strategies of the Government Technology (GovTech) Agency to tap into the opportunities and potential of AI to transform the nation and lead in the digital world. GovTech’s strategy here is to establish the AI Lab program in the country in collaboration with Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), Thimphu TechPark Limited (TTPL), and Omdena. DHI’s involvement as an implementing partner for this initiative is crucial, given its mission to strategize technology and innovation pathways to propel the nation into a tech-based economy through collaborations, research initiatives, startups, and national capacity building. This program is a first of its kind designed to cover the complete ecosystem needed for building a niche in AI.

The program was virtually launched on June 8, 2024, with 219 participants and partners joining the official launch.
“The AI lab program is designed to provide a complete experience for AI enthusiasts from building capabilities, collaborating on real-world projects with global experts, to promoting AI startups with global market access,” said the Secretary of GovTech.

The AI lab program is a 5-year project consisting of four components that will run simultaneously each year: upskilling local tech talent, establishing local Omdena chapters to bridge the gap between societal impact and AI, building scalable AI tools and solutions, and creating a startup incubator with the goal of launching a minimum of two to five global AI startups.

“Bhutan is a unique country where Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product. Its primary focus on the well-being and happiness of people makes it the perfect place to build AI solutions for good. Thus, we are super excited to be part of building the AI Lab program in Bhutan and help it move towards the new ethically based AI economy while engaging the local community,” said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Omdena.
The project has built-in sustainability through the third phase focused on evaluating the overall project success and assessing operations with complete local engagement.

“The collaboration among GovTech, Omdena, DHI, and TTPL to establish the AI Lab Program, but more significantly, the overwhelming interest from participants to be part of this journey, is a testimony that we are all committed to developing AI capacity and talent pipelines in building the next generation of industries in Bhutan. The AI Lab Program is an important component of DHI’s Innovation Strategy in building the Innovation Ecosystem for a Startup Economy,” said the CEO of DHI.

The first AI lab program will be set up at the Bhutan Innovation and Technology Center (BITC) operated by TTPL. It is an important undertaking to fulfill TTPL’s vision to “inspire, enable, and develop Unicorns” in the country.
“TTPL is excited to be a partner in advancing education on Artificial Intelligence in the country. We will establish an AI Development Center with support from the National Information Agency (NIA), South Korea, that will complement the AI Lab program in July. We believe these initiatives will help the country venture into the digital economy,” said the CEO of TTPL.

The project is led by GovTech Agency in partnership with Druk Holding & Investments and Thimphu TechPark Limited as national partners and Omdena as the international partner.
GovTech is an autonomous agency under the governance cluster to drive digital transformation by using technology to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the government, transform public services to be citizen-centric, and create a safe and thriving Bhutanese digital economy.