Dorita Yiannakou
Cyprus’ National Artificial Intelligence Strategy goes before the Cabinet at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to win approval. Nicodemos Damianou, deputy minister of research, innovation and digital policy, finalized the strategy after public consultation.
Drawn up by the National AI Taskforce, the strategy sets out how Cyprus plans to make use of artificial intelligence and build a modern, trusted AI sector. By 2032, it aims for Cyprus to be recognized as a trusted AI hub in the eastern Mediterranean, a European base for developing and offering AI-powered services, and a bridge for cooperation between the European Union and neighboring regions.
The strategy sets out eight goals for developing and using AI responsibly. They include making Cyprus a trusted place to develop and deploy AI, using the technology to improve productivity and building an AI sector that a wide range of people and businesses can take part in.
The plan also calls for using AI to modernize public services, training and retaining specialists while attracting new talent, and keeping data and infrastructure secure and under national control while allowing different systems to work together. The remaining goals are to set clear rules for oversight, ethics and accountability wherever AI is used and to build up Cyprus’ own AI capabilities through strategic partnerships.
What the AI strategy would mean in practice
At the Digital Agenda Cyprus Summit in October, Damianou outlined 16 flagship programs. One proposal is to add AI to the Digital Citizen app, with the government’s consultation draft envisioning round-the-clock help in a user’s preferred language. A separate project, Digital Company 2.0, would make it easier for businesses to deal with government agencies online. The draft sets a target of cutting waiting times for people using public services by 40% by 2032.
Beyond government services, Damianou identified five priority areas for AI adoption—financial services and fintech, tourism and hospitality, shipping, health care, and legal and judicial services. The plan also includes training workers to use AI and a national program to help small and midsize businesses adopt it.
The draft also spells out what should happen when AI helps make a decision that affects someone’s life. In sensitive areas such as health care or social benefits, it proposes that people be able to ask for an explanation, challenge the decision and have a person review it.
