The government has signed a $4.2 million grant agreement with the World Bank to support the development and testing of artificial intelligence applications in public institutions and prepare for the expansion of the Sanad digital platform to include the business sector.
The grant forms part of additional financing arrangements for the Youth, Technology and Jobs Project, Al Mamlaka reported, citing World Bank documents.
It will fund preparatory activities for the project's additional financing, including the development of practical AI solutions for selected government sectors, studies to identify project components and priorities, and efforts to strengthen the capacity of relevant institutions to design and implement digital solutions.
The initiative will focus on developing and testing AI applications to streamline government operations and improve the delivery of public services, according to Al Mamlaka.
The applications will include tools capable of carrying out multiple tasks and processes, as well as AI-powered solutions integrated into the Sanad platform.
The agreement also provides for the development of a phased plan to expand Sanad's services to business-sector users. This will involve redesigning and simplifying procedures for selected services, testing new digital solutions and preparing the technical specifications required for their implementation.
The grant will also support efforts to establish a National Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, drawing on lessons learnt from AI pilot projects and partnerships developed during their implementation.
The proposed centre is expected to bring together expertise, data, research and development to accelerate innovation and strengthen Jordan's technological capabilities.
The grant-funded activities are also expected to identify government AI applications with the potential for wider implementation, prepare technical plans for scaling them up and strengthen public institutions' capacity to integrate AI into service delivery.
In June, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship said the Sanad application had continued to record rapid growth, with digital identity activations exceeding 2.7 million citizens and nearly 400,000 daily active users.
The ministry said the figures reflected the application's growing role in citizens' daily lives and their increasing reliance on it to access government services digitally, quickly and conveniently.
