AGESIC's Observatory surveys Uruguay's public bodies on their AI use and publishes the results with transparency guidance. Its 2024 survey, sent to 60 organisations, drew 22 responses reporting 27 AI use cases — only 8 of them actually operational.
60 organisations
Organisations surveyed (by 30 June 2024)
22 organisations
Organisations responding
27 use cases / initiatives
AI use cases reported
8 use cases
Use cases confirmed operational
9 of 22
Responding organisations reporting no AI use
Details
Maturity
Established
Promoter
Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (AGESIC), Uruguay
Period
2022–ongoing
Keywords
public administration, digital government, AI governance, open government
Context
Created under commitment 1.6 of Uruguay's Fifth National Action Plan for Open Government (2021–2024), the Observatorio de Inteligencia Artificial en el Estado was launched between June 2022 and June 2023 by AGESIC together with the Unit for Access to Public Information (UAIP) to track and publish how the Uruguayan state actually uses AI.
Activities
AGESIC periodically surveys public bodies on their AI use, and alongside the survey it publishes recommendations on algorithmic transparency for public bodies, aligning AI disclosure with Uruguay's existing transparency and public-information-access rules — positioning the Observatory as a governance and policy-analysis tool rather than a compliance mandate.
Results
As of 30 June 2024 the survey had been sent to 60 organisations, received responses from 22, and published details of 27 reported AI applications or initiatives — of which only 8 were confirmed operational and functioning, while the other 19 were still in development, testing, or had been discontinued. Nine of the 22 responding organisations reported no AI use at all.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No budget disclosed; conservative low estimate for a periodic government survey/registry mechanism.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Run jointly by AGESIC and the Unit for Access to Public Information (UAIP)
Conditions for success
Anchored in a formal Open Government Partnership action-plan commitment (UY0143)
Periodic survey of public bodies combined with published algorithmic-transparency recommendations
Common failure modes
Only 22 of 60 surveyed organisations responded, and 9 of those reported no AI use at all
Of 27 reported AI applications, only 8 were confirmed operational; the rest were in development, testing, or discontinued
Where it fits
Governance type
national digital government agency
Scale
national
Income level
high-income
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.
