Colombia’s national AI policy

The ‘Política Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial’ of Colombia, published on 14 February 2025 by the National Council of Economic and Social Policy (CONPES), is a comprehensive national policy that outlines Colombia’s strategic approach to the ethical and sustainable development, adoption, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies through 2030.

The strategy builds upon previous efforts, such as the 2019 CONPES 3975 policy, but acknowledges that despite initial progress, Colombia still faces significant challenges in research, infrastructure, governance, talent development, and data access. It therefore sets out to strengthen the country’s capacities across these areas to support a socially and economically inclusive digital transformation.

Core components of the strategy include:

1. Ethics and governance: Establish mechanisms to ensure AI is developed and used responsibly. This includes updating the 2021 ethical framework and creating formal structures for AI oversight and coordination, especially to keep pace with emerging technologies like generative AI.
2. Data and infrastructure: Enhance national digital infrastructure and improve the availability, quality, interoperability, and representativeness of data, especially from the public sector, to ensure it can be effectively used for AI systems. This also includes addressing the digital divide and ensuring equitable internet access across regions.
3. Research, development, and innovation (R&D+i): Increase investment in AI R&D, support collaboration between public and private sectors, and enable businesses—especially SMEs—to innovate using AI. The strategy also identifies gaps in knowledge production and tech transfer that need to be closed to improve Colombia’s AI capacity.
4. Skills and digital talent: Develop educational policies and training initiatives to build AI-related skills at all levels of society. The aim is to foster broad societal understanding and capacity for AI, not just among experts, and to address regional and socioeconomic disparities in access to digital education.
5. Risk mitigation: Define preventive and monitoring measures to reduce risks linked to AI, such as labour displacement, privacy violations, discrimination, and misinformation. It emphasises adapting regulatory frameworks to respond to new risks and ensuring digital rights are upheld.
6. Adoption and application: Promote the use of AI in public administration, the private sector, and across different regions. The strategy seeks to ensure AI technologies contribute to social well-being, environmental sustainability, and economic competitiveness.

The policy is aligned with Colombia’s National Development Plan 2022–2026 and the National Digital Strategy 2023–2026. It integrates international recommendations from the OECD and UNESCO on ethical AI use and emphasises collaborative policymaking, drawing on contributions from over 150 representatives across sectors in participatory consultations.

A total of 106 actions are planned for implementation by 2030, involving coordination among numerous ministries and public agencies, with a projected investment of approximately 479 billion pesos.

This strategy represents a structured, multisectoral approach to harnessing AI’s potential while managing its risks, grounded in Colombia’s development priorities and institutional context.