evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

AskGov — Guyana's Generative-AI Assistant for Government Services

Guyana · Georgetown · See the Guyana profile · See the Georgetown profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 97% 20/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

President Irfaan Ali announced AskGov, a 24/7 generative-AI assistant for Guyanese government services such as license renewals and application-status checks, part of the oil-revenue-funded 'Digital Guyana' agenda; as of January 2026 it remains in build-out with no published laun

AskGov — Guyana's Generative-AI Assistant for Government Services AskGov — Guyana's Generative-AI Assistant for Government Services

Details

Promoter
National Data Management Authority (NDMA), Office of the President, Government of Guyana
Period
Announced 25-26 June 2025; still in build-out as of January 2026, no completion date published
Keywords
generative AI, e-government, citizen services, digital transformation

Context

On 25–26 June 2025, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali unveiled AskGov, described as Guyana's official generative-AI assistant for government services, as one of three pillars of the country's 'Digital Guyana' agenda alongside a unified Citizen Portal and an electronic ID system.

Objectives

Built by the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) under the Office of the President, AskGov is intended to operate 24/7, answering citizens' and public servants' queries about government processes and completing tasks such as license renewals, application-status checks, and document requests without human intervention.

Activities

The programme is funded in part through Guyana's oil-revenue-driven public investment programme, with the government stating an ambition to make Guyana 'a regional leader in digital transformation' within five years.

Results

As of January 2026, Guyana Chronicle reported that Digital Guyana, including the AI platform, was still under active build-out rather than in general public use, with no confirmed public launch date.

Conclusions

A June 2025 commentary in Kaieteur News cautioned that Guyana's public-sector data infrastructure — paper files, disconnected spreadsheets, and legacy systems — remains a foundational barrier that any AI deployment must first overcome. No source found through mid-2026 discloses user or query volumes, cost savings, or a specific budget figure for AskGov; this should be read as an announced, still-in-development national initiative rather than a proven, evaluated system.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Funded in part through Guyana's oil-revenue-driven public investment programme; no AskGov-specific budget figure disclosed.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Announced 25–26 June 2025; still in active build-out as of January 2026 with no confirmed public launch date; five-year ambition horizon.
Staffing & skills
National Data Management Authority (NDMA), Office of the President

Conditions for success

  • addressing foundational public-sector data infrastructure gaps (paper files, disconnected spreadsheets, legacy systems) before AI deployment, per Kaieteur News commentary
  • oil-revenue-funded public investment backing

Common failure modes

  • still in build-out with no confirmed public launch date as of January 2026
  • no user/query volume, cost savings or specific budget figures disclosed
  • public-sector data infrastructure flagged as a foundational barrier that must be overcome first

Where it fits

Governance type
national government, presidential digital-transformation initiative
Scale
national, not yet launched
Income level
upper-middle-income, oil-revenue-funded (Guyana)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful