{"name":"Applied AI in Papua New Guinea — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for Papua New Guinea, 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/papua-new-guinea","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":"Papua New Guinea","slug":"papua-new-guinea","iso2":"PG","region":"Asia-Pacific"},"counts":{"entries":16,"deployments":9,"evidenceImpact":0,"evidenceAdoption":3,"regulation":4,"industries":7,"countries":1,"linked":16},"entries":[{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"National Information and Communications Technology Authority","text":"Papua New Guinea's National Information and Communications Technology Authority wants three fresh Bills widening control over data protection, digital identity and AI, tied to a broader Papua New Guinea AI regulation push. A proposed risk-based model targets banned uses and high-risk tools with bias testing, audits and disclosure duties, plus mandatory human review touching rights or public services. Stakeholder input and legislative passage remain ahead for this AI governance framework.","date":"2026-09-08","source":"https://www.pnghausbung.com/three-new-bills-to-expand-png-s-digital-regulation/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"Lands Commission of Papua New Guinea","text":"Papua New Guinea's Lands Commission sent twenty staff through AI training for land administration at the Institute of Technology and Innovation (ITI) in Port Moresby, held 17 to 20 August 2026. Modules covered Introduction to AI, AI for Office Productivity, and Data Visualization and Building Dashboards, building skills for land-dispute review and faster reporting. Chief Commissioner Molean Kilepak and the Commissioner for Operations joined the artificial intelligence and data course.","date":"2026-08-17","source":"https://thepngbulletin.com/news/lands-commission-officers-complete-ai-training-at-iti/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Teacher","org":"Papua New Guinea Department of Education","text":"Papua New Guinea's Department of Education unveiled EduNex, an AI-powered learning management system, at Port Moresby National School of Excellence. The AI learning platform, built on homegrown NEXA AI, gives teachers assessment tools, digital classrooms, curriculum resources and AI-assisted lesson planning. Education Minister Francis Siune expects it to connect schools nationwide; Starlink and DataCo supply internet first to National Schools of Excellence.","date":"2026-07-30","source":"https://www.thenational.com.pg/education-system-enters-new-digital-era/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"Government of Papua New Guinea","text":"Papua New Guinea's parliament will debate amendments to the Cybercrime Code Act in November making AI deepfakes, synthetic voice impersonation and other malicious AI uses criminal offences. The bill also covers AI-generated child exploitation material, sexually explicit imagery, fraudulent cloned voices, digital identity theft and online scams. Acting ICT Minister Peter Tsiamalili said platforms and AI service providers would face liability for unlawful content.","date":"2026-07-21","source":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-21/new-laws-in-png-target-ai-deepfakes/106928414"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"Department of Information and Communications Technology","text":"AI deepfakes regulation is moving forward in Papua New Guinea, where officials have begun drafting rules against voice cloning, digital impersonation and other misuse of artificial intelligence. Planned changes to the Cybercrime Code Act would criminalise sexually explicit deepfake images, child exploitation material, scam calls using cloned voices, and related online fraud, effectively criminalising AI-generated impersonation. Parliament may take up the bill in its November 2026 sitting, though the text remains unfinished and no statute yet exists.","date":"2026-07-07","source":"https://www.ict.gov.pg/ict-ministry-introduces-legal-framework-to-criminalize-ai-deepfakes-identity-cloning-and-digital-impersonation/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"Papua New Guinea Centre for Judicial Excellence (PNGCJE)","text":"11 National Judicial Staff Services (NJSS) staff gained hands-on skills in Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT and NotebookLM via a judicial AI training programme at Waigani Supreme and National Courts. The Papua New Guinea Centre for Judicial Excellence (PNGCJE) funded the Generative AI for Beginners Bootcamp, pairing machine learning basics with generative AI architecture before tool practice. This judicial AI skills bootcamp ran three days, 23-25 June 2026.","date":"2026-06-23","source":"https://pngcje.gov.pg/njss-staff-complete-generative-ai-for-beginners-bootcamp/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"University of Papua New Guinea","text":"A School of Business and Public Policy poll at University of Papua New Guinea, sampling 77 students, put daily AI use by university students at 42%, plus 30% logging in weekly — over seven in ten engaging at least once a week. ChatGPT led with 85% adoption, ahead of Microsoft Copilot (44%) and Google Gemini (23%). The unfinished research also found 74% wanting clearer campus rules, reflecting this student AI adoption trend.","date":"2026-06-15","source":"https://www.thenational.com.pg/ai-is-in-the-classroom-insights-from-a-survey-of-upng-students/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Radiographer / community health worker","org":"Government of Papua New Guinea (National Department of Health) with World Vision","text":"Papua New Guinea now runs AI tuberculosis screening through four battery-powered X-ray units deployed by the government with World Vision under the Systematic Screening Initiative. Health workers carry backpack-sized devices built on CAD4TB software into areas without hospital infrastructure, where each scan takes 10 seconds to produce a score flagging presumptive cases, including in people showing no symptoms. One unit operates as a mobile setup; three are fixed at Gerehu General Hospital, Six-Mile Clinic and Lawes Road in Konedobu, giving the country's AI-assisted TB detection reach beyond urban centres.","date":"2026-04-02","source":"https://www.thenational.com.pg/ai-technology-combating-tb/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","org":"Department of Information and Communications Technology","text":"The Department of Information and Communications Technology opened consultation on its Draft National Sovereign Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence Strategy, placing Papua New Guinea AI policy, digital government and digital public infrastructure under one sovereign architecture. Four laws are proposed: a National Artificial Intelligence Act, Data Governance and Protection Act, Digital Identity and Trust Framework Act and Critical Digital Infrastructure Investment Act. New bodies would follow: a Digital Transformation and AI Board, a restructured Department of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence and a National Digital Economy Authority. None exists yet, because this AI governance plan is still a draft.","date":"2026-03-22","source":"https://www.ict.gov.pg/png-releases-draft-national-sovereign-digital-transformation-and-ai-strategy-for-public-consultation/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"HR & People","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"HR and recruitment officers","org":"Department of Personnel Management","text":"Papua New Guinea's public service now hires through an AI-powered e-recruitment system covering every government body, unveiled by the Department of Personnel Management at the Digital Transformation Summit 2025 in Port Moresby. Secretary Taies Sansan described an AI recruitment platform built on large language models that scans applicants' CVs, transcripts and credentials, aligns their skills against open roles, assembles candidate shortlists, and drafts offer letters plus contracts automatically. Trials start at the Department of Personnel Management and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, before an 18-month expansion brings every remaining national, provincial and health-sector office on board.","date":"2025-11-28","source":"https://www.thenational.com.pg/department-launches-new-recruitment-system/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Media, Telecom & Entertainment","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Telecom tower engineer","org":"K-Towers","text":"Kacific subsidiary K-Towers has fitted 64 remote towers in Papua New Guinea's Western Province with PowerX for AI tower maintenance. It reads power and telemetry data to catch faults alone and rank which sites need attention, ending manual checks that often needed helicopter trips. Automated infrastructure oversight now gives crews instant tower visibility.","date":"2025-11-01","source":"https://telconews.asia/story/k-towers-powerx-bring-ai-to-remote-pacific-mobile-towers"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Police officer","org":"National Capital District Commission (NCDC)","text":"K20 million backs a new AI-powered CCTV surveillance system live in Port Moresby, giving NCDC unbroken 24/7 coverage citywide. A Command and Control Centre drives this AI surveillance network, spotting movement, matching faces and auto-switching feeds toward flagged incidents. James Marape led the launch, split between K15 million from national coffers and K5 million from NCDC.","date":"2025-09-09","source":"https://thepngbulletin.com/news/ncdc-to-operate-24-7-cctv-surveillance-ahead-of-golden-jubilee/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Manufacturing, Energy & Resources","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Petroleum production engineer","org":"Santos","text":"Papua New Guinea's wells, pipelines and reservoirs now draw on Xecta's Integrated Production System Model (IPSM), an AI-powered digital oilfield system Santos rolled out after success in Australia's Cooper basin. Physics-based modelling paired with AI-driven production optimisation converts billions of telemetry readings into continuous, live output guidance.","date":"2025-07-11","source":"https://www.worldoil.com/news/2025/7/11/santos-xecta-deploy-industry-first-digital-oilfield-project-across-australia-papua-new-guinea/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Finance and reconciliation staff","org":"BSP Financial Group","text":"BSP Financial Group, Papua New Guinea's largest bank, has adopted SmartStream Technologies' Affinity module, an AI-driven tool for exception management in banking using observational learning to support automated exception management and data-based decisions. Nuni Kulu said the change cut manual work and lifted accuracy for over two million customers across PNG and the Pacific.","date":"2025-06-18","source":"https://www.bsp.com.pg/about/news-and-media/bsp-streamlines-reconciliation-process-with-smartstream/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Accounts payable staff","org":"Nasfund","text":"Nasfund, Papua New Guinea's biggest private superannuation fund, runs AI invoice processing via DeepDelve Invoice AI, hitting 97 per cent data extraction accuracy on trialled supplier invoices. Innovation PNG Awards gave Nasfund its Large Business prize as the tool lifted productivity 40 per cent and freed three hours daily per worker. Rajeev Sharma says large language models come next, automating payments entirely, targeting a 70 per cent cut in processing time.","date":"2025-05-21","source":"https://www.businessadvantagepng.com/award-winning-trial-just-the-beginning-of-nasfunds-artificial-intelligence-journey/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Papua New Guinea","role":"Immigration officer","org":"Papua New Guinea Immigration and Citizenship Services Authority (ICSA)","text":"40,000-plus documents cleared in three months mark the start of AI visa processing at Papua New Guinea's Immigration and Citizenship Services Authority (ICSA), via NiuPay's AI-driven e-visa system. Two-week waits now end in under two minutes for over 95% of short-term applicants. John Rosso called it the Pacific's first AI tool live in a government production setting.","date":"2025-03","source":"https://pnghausbung.com/rosso-applauds-gains-from-ai-powered-tech-in-png-e-visa-platform/"}]}