{"name":"Applied AI in Ecuador — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for Ecuador, tagged by kind, industry, region and role, sourced and dated. A slice of the State of Applied AI record, maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI.","source":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/ecuador","partOf":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/evidence.json","attribution":"Industrial Research Unit, Straits Institute for Applied AI","updated":"2026-10-29","facet":{"kind":"country","name":"Ecuador","slug":"ecuador","iso2":"EC","region":"Latin America & Caribbean"},"counts":{"entries":20,"deployments":9,"evidenceImpact":0,"evidenceAdoption":2,"regulation":9,"industries":5,"countries":1,"linked":20},"entries":[{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","role":"Financial intelligence analysts","org":"Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE)","text":"Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE) will start screening sports-betting transactions with Palantir software from January 2027, José Julio Neira, Secretary of Public Administration, confirmed, putting AI anti-money laundering at the centre of the betting regime. The platform from the US company is meant for transaction monitoring that surfaces suspicious patterns and atypical flows in real time. Layered over rules in force since April for licensed online operators, the plan confirms the government's choice to regulate betting over prohibition.","date":"2026-10-07","source":"https://focusgn.com/latinoamerica/ecuador-ia-apuestas-deportivas"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Ecuador","role":"Call centre agent","org":"Biess (Banco del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social)","text":"ABI, a generative AI virtual agent for loan enquiries, answers Biess members on mortgage, pawn and unsecured loans and other products in a renewed call centre. Biess is the social security bank; calls pass to human staff as needed.","date":"2026-10-01","source":"https://www.eluniverso.com/economia/finanzas-personales/biess-activa-nuevo-call-center-que-opera-con-una-agente-virtual-nota/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","role":"Border guard","org":"Government of Ecuador","text":"Ecuador's government will install Edge, AI border surveillance from the United Arab Emirates, on the Colombia and Peru frontiers, President Daniel Noboa said. Edge should spot illicit activity, odd movements and cargo tampering; Noboa judged the technology better value than 50,000 soldiers. No price or schedule for the frontier monitoring AI has been given.","date":"2026-09-17","source":"https://www.metroecuador.com.ec/noticias/2026/09/17/presidente-daniel-noboa-anuncia-inteligencia-artificial-de-emiratos-arabes-para-reforzar-las-fronteras-de-ecuador/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador","text":"Ecuador AI regulation has stalled: the Asamblea Nacional voted 88 in plenary to archive the Ley Orgánica de Regulación y Promoción de la Inteligencia Artificial. Its text would have created duties around specialist hiring, technical infrastructure, data systems, staff training and supervisory machinery. Members shelving the AI law blamed implementation difficulty and clashes with statutes already in force.","date":"2026-09-16","source":"https://www.ambatonews.com/2026/09/16/estamos-preparados-para-legislar-sobre-una-tecnologia-que-cambia-cada-dia-asamblea-archiva-ley-de-inteligencia-artificial"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Ecuador","org":"OECD (PISA 2025)","text":"The OECD's PISA 2025 results show 46% of students consult AI chatbots at least once a week. Such frequent student AI use was captured by the assessment's learning questions.","date":"2026-09-08","source":"https://www.primicias.ec/sociedad/pruebas-pisa-educacion-resultados-ecuador-estudiantes-inteligencia-artificial-acoso-132176/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador","text":"Assemblywoman Cecilia Baltazar tabled the Proyecto de Ley Orgánica para el Desarrollo, Uso Ético y Gobernanza de la Inteligencia Artificial before the National Assembly. The Ecuador AI regulation proposal sets risk tiers, governance structures, innovation incentives and sanctions when AI systems misuse personal data, and amends the Código Orgánico Integral Penal. This AI legislation is at an early stage; the Assembly archived an earlier AI bill on 15 September 2026.","date":"2026-09-01","source":"https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/es/noticia/118939-cecilia-baltazar-presenta-proyecto-de-ley-sobre-el-uso"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Presidencia de la República del Ecuador / SERCOP","text":"Ecuador's president Daniel Noboa signed Executive Decree 461, reforming procurement rules to phase in AI in public procurement: automated early-warning systems, data mining, natural-language processing and machine learning. Procurement agency SERCOP will use them to spot tendering risks, irregularities and breaches, funded by a new special levy.","date":"2026-07-30","source":"https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/nacionales/210/presidente-noboa-reforma-la-contratacion-publica-e-incorpora-el-uso-de-inteligencia-artificial"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Universidad Internacional de La Rioja","text":"More than 400 civil servants across Ecuador gained grounding in AI ethics training for public servants through a programme run by Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR), touching on regulatory rules, openness and public governance. The curriculum unfolded at three separate venues - the National Assembly, the Council of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Defence - and paired instruction with 200 awarded scholarships toward a diploma focused on combating corruption. This AI governance training in the public sector explored how Ecuador's legal framework for artificial intelligence intersects with the ethical questions confronting government bodies.","date":"2026-07-28","source":"https://www.metroecuador.com.ec/empresarial/2026/07/28/unir-abre-el-debate-sobre-inteligencia-artificial-y-lucha-contra-la-corrupcion-junto-a-mas-de-400-servidores-publicos-del-ecuador/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales","text":"The Superintendence of Personal Data Protection (SPDP) issued Resolución No. SPDP-SPD-2026-0009-R: 'Norma General para la Garantía del Derecho de Protección de Datos Personales en el Uso de Sistemas de Inteligencia Artificial'. This Ecuador AI regulation binds data controllers and processors handling local personal data with AI, setting principles, obligations and control mechanisms. The data-protection rules for AI mandate impact assessments, risk management, security measures and audits, and let the SPDP audit systems and order corrective measures.","date":"2026-02-12","source":"https://www.lexis.com.ec/noticias/superintendencia-de-proteccion-de-datos-personales-expide-norma-general-para-la-proteccion-de-datos-personales-en-el-uso-de-inteligencia-artificial"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales","text":"Ecuador now has binding AI data protection rules reaching providers abroad whose systems touch residents' personal data. The Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP) issued Resolution SPDP-SPD-2026-0009-R under the Norma General para la Garantía del Derecho de Protección de Datos Personales en el Uso de Sistemas de Inteligencia Artificial, an AI regulation splitting duties among developers, deployers, distributors and implementers across a system's full life: risk checks, disclosure requirements, and human review of automated outcomes.","date":"2026-02-12","source":"https://www.pbplaw.com/publicaciones/resoluci%C3%B3n-n%C2%BA-spdp-spd-2026-0009-r-norma-general-para-la-garant%C3%ADa-del-derecho-de-protecci%C3%B3n-de-datos-personales-en-el-uso-de-sistemas-de-inteligencia-artificial/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","role":"Park ranger","org":"Dirección del Parque Nacional Galápagos","text":"Floreana's Smart Island system in the Galápagos has fed real-time AI wildlife monitoring to park rangers, researchers and technicians since 1 February 2026. Trained on thousands of photos from 125 camera traps and 48 wireless cameras, it recognises feral cats and rodents. The Galápagos National Park Directorate, which leads Floreana's restoration alongside the Jocotoco Foundation and Island Conservation, relies on it to pick and monitor habitats for returning species like giant tortoises.","date":"2026-02-01","source":"https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/ecuador/isla-floreana-ia-vigila-dia-noche-para-traer-vuelta-especies-galapagos/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información","text":"MINTEL formalised Ecuador AI policy via Acuerdo Ministerial MINTEL-MINTEL-2025-0030, adopting the Estrategia para el Fomento del Desarrollo y Uso Ético y Responsable de la Inteligencia Artificial en el Ecuador (EFIA) as its binding annex. The accord took force upon publication in Registro Oficial Suplemento No. 206 on 19 January 2026, its sole clause ordering the strategy's issuance. EFIA promotes ethical, responsible AI development nationwide.","date":"2025-12-22","source":"https://vlex.ec/vid/acuerdo-mintel-mintel-2025-1102899923"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","role":"Data protection officer","org":"Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP)","text":"Agentic AI in government reached Ecuador via AIxSPDP, built internally at the Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP), marking a public authority's first such rollout nationally. Notification duties for data breaches came first, with human-supervised sanction procedures joining by August 2026.","date":"2025-12","source":"https://www.uasb.edu.ec/oiad/aixspdp/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador","text":"Ecuador's Asamblea Nacional passed a Public Procurement Law reform, 80 votes to none opposed, embedding AI for contract oversight against irregularities, with alerts tied to the Comptroller's Office and Prosecutor's Office. Emergency deals and case files must stay traceable, while a new platform cross-checks AI-driven procurement monitoring data against the SRI, Civil Registry and Comptroller.","date":"2025-10-07","source":"https://expedientes.ec/con-80-votos-la-asamblea-nacional-incorpora-mecanismos-anticorrupcion-y-tecnologia-de-la-ley-de-integridad-publica-loip-a-la-ley-de-contratacion-publica/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"Ecuador","role":"Physician","org":"Hospital General Riobamba (IESS)","text":"IESS, Ecuador's social security institute, has rolled out IA PROA at Hospital General Riobamba to flag, refine and track restricted antimicrobial use. The hospital calls it Latin America's first AI antibiotic stewardship system, an AI-driven antimicrobial resistance monitoring tool overseeing rational prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics.","date":"2025-09-16","source":"https://www.edicionmedica.ec/secciones/profesionales/hospital-general-riobamba-incorpora-la-ia-en-el-monitoreo-del-uso-de-antibioticos-103950"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","role":"Citizen services officer","org":"Dirección General de Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación","text":"Asistente Virtual 119 now fields round-the-clock queries on identity cards, passports, births and marriages for Ecuador's Dirección General de Registro Civil, an AI virtual assistant for citizens reachable by phone or web, at home or overseas. This government AI chatbot pursues shorter queues and fewer go-betweens in state service delivery, running non-stop across 24 hours.","date":"2025-08-13","source":"https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/nacionales/44/registro-civil-presenta-asistente-virtual-119"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Ecuador","role":"Data engineer","org":"Banco del Austro","text":"Instant credit approvals, once a two-hour wait, are now standard at Banco del Austro after it rolled out a new IBM data platform for storage, integration, governance and lineage. Data engineer output has climbed, readying the Ecuadorian lender for broader artificial intelligence in banking through this AI-driven data platform.","date":"2025-06-04","source":"https://latam.newsroom.ibm.com/2025-06-04-Banco-del-Austro-esta-adoptando-IA-de-IBM-para-mejorar-la-experiencia-al-cliente"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Retail & Consumer","region":"Ecuador","role":"Customer service agent","org":"Terpel Ecuador","text":"Terpel Ecuador now runs TBot, an AI customer service chatbot on WhatsApp Business, across its fuel stations, Altoque convenience stores and Voltex charging points. This AI-powered digital copilot replaces manual queries by sharing site locations, promotions and payment methods, plus collecting feedback.","date":"2025-05-08","source":"https://itahora.com/2025/05/08/terpel-presento-a-tbot/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Superintendencia de Competencia Económica (SCE)","text":"Resolution SCE-DS-2025-12 gave Ecuador's Superintendencia de Competencia Económica (SCE) its first AI ethics code public sector reform, an addition to its existing Code of Ethics that sets out how the regulator governs artificial intelligence use inside a government body. Human review must accompany every automated task, guided by five values -- openness, responsibility, fairness, protection and traceability -- while any system threatening basic rights or producing unfixable harm stays banned outright. By October 2025 the agency had gone further still, issuing a Guide for Auditing AI Use and becoming Latin America's first government institution to build formal algorithmic auditing in government into its oversight structure.","date":"2025-04-02","source":"https://www.lexis.com.ec/noticias/registro-oficial-del-dia-superintendencia-de-competencia-economica-reforma-su-codigo-de-etica-para-el-uso-de-inteligencia-artificial"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ecuador","org":"Asamblea Nacional","text":"Ecuador's National Assembly is reviewing the Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Regulación y Promoción de la Inteligencia Artificial en Ecuador, filed by legislator Patricia Núñez under process 450889, which would classify systems by four risk tiers modelled on the EU, ban social scoring and subconscious manipulation, and create an AI Ethics Committee for AI regulation in Ecuador. A risk-tiered oversight structure like this remains stuck in committee as of February 2026, with no first-debate report issued.","date":"2024-06-20","source":"https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/es/multimedios-legislativos/97303-proyecto-de-ley-organica-de-regulacion"}]}