The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Government plans to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) across the public sector, introduce a national identity (ID) card and connect public sector databases as part of a sweeping modernisation drive designed to improve efficiency and make it easier to do business in The Bahamas.

Sebas Bastian, innovation and national development minister, in his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget debate argued that many government services remain slowed by outdated systems and disconnected databases despite years of digital transformation efforts.

"Today, government collects mountains of information from its citizens, and then traps it," he said. "Locked in systems that cannot speak to one another. Filed in one office, invisible to the next. The result is a government slower than it should be, and a country harder to do business in than it should be. That is not an IT problem. It is a competitiveness problem."

Mr Bastian said the Government intends to move beyond simply placing existing processes online and instead redesign how public services operate. "In too many cases, we digitised the form, while the work behind it stayed analog," he said.

"Somewhere in this country right now, a form a citizen submitted online is being printed on to paper so it can be typed back into a computer." To address those inefficiencies, Mr Bastian said artificial intelligence will be incorporated into government operations to automate routine administrative tasks and speed up service delivery.

"We will go behind these systems, redesign the processes and bring artificial intelligence to the work itself, so that what once required a person at every step can increasingly be handled automatically,” he added,.

Mr Bastian also announced plans for SmartGov, a suite of AI-powered tools intended to assist public servants with research, correspondence and administrative work. "To our civil servants, we will bring SmartGov — AI tools that take on the briefs, the research, the correspondence, the busy work, and hand them back their time,” he said.

At the centre of the modernisation strategy will be a national digital identity system designed to allow government agencies to securely share information and verify identities.

"At the heart of this connected government will be a secure national ID card," said Mr Bastian. He argued that citizens currently face unnecessary administrative burdens when interacting with multiple government agencies.

"Today, proving who you are to your own government too often means carrying a stack of documents from one office to the next. A national ID card changes that,” he argued.

Mr Bastian said the broader objective is to create a connected government in which agencies communicate seamlessly while protecting citizens' information.

"Government systems must be designed to communicate securely, share information where appropriate, and support a seamless experience for citizens, businesses and investors,” he added, asserting that digital sovereignty would remain a priority as the Government expands its use of technology and data systems.