Fiji is positioned at 96 out of 193 nations in the Government AI Readiness Index, according to the report “The State of Artificial Intelligence in the Pacific Islands” published by the AI Asia Pacific Institute, based in Singapore.
This index assesses the ability of governments to effectively implement AI in public service through three main criteria: the presence of an AI strategy, the innovation within the technology sector, and the quality of data and infrastructure.
“The scores of Pacific Islands exhibit a notable gap when compared to Australia and New Zealand, with a 13.44 point difference in total score between New Zealand and Nauru, the highest-ranked Pacific Island nation,” the report indicates.
Besides Nauru and Fiji, other countries in the Pacific Islands are ranked outside the top 100 and generally reflect lower levels of development across all criteria.
Various elements contribute to this situation, including the geographical spread and small populations of these islands, as well as their remoteness from significant international markets.
Furthermore, the omission of seven islands from the index due to the unavailability of data highlights the challenges in gathering ICT-related information in this region.