Dear Editor,
President Irfaan Ali’s vision for a digitized Guyana is a welcome evolution. However, for the critical thinker, “digitization” is a double-edged sword. It can either be a thin veil over old habits or the very scalpel that cuts out the cancer of nepotism and corruption. If the government is sincere about transparency, it must move beyond simple “ease of doing business” and toward Algorithmic Accountability.
We currently face a public service where the “Permanent Secretary”—the CEO of a Ministry—is often a political appointee rather than a career technocrat. This creates a system where the “connected” are favored and the “competent” are shunned. If we are to leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence, as the President suggests in the healthcare sector, we must apply that same logic to the very machinery of government.
The technology exists today to create a “Blind Hiring” platform. Imagine a system where all public service hiring is conducted on a portal where, jobs are posted and applications are submitted allowing :
Public procurement remains the greatest “hotspot” for corruption. A digital transformation that merely uploads PDF bids is useless. True transformation would involve:
The President has already acknowledged AI’s efficacy in diagnostic interpretation. If we trust an algorithm to diagnose a life-threatening illness because it is more consistent than a human, why do we not trust an algorithm to “diagnose” the best contractor for a new road or the most qualified engineer for a government post?
The Challenge to the Administration
A digital system that still leaves the final “yes/no” in the hands of a political appointee is not a transformation; it is merely a faster version of the status quo.
To truly test the sincerity of the 2026 digital push, the public must demand Open Algorithms. We don’t just want a government app; we want a government where the “gatekeepers” are replaced by transparent, auditable code. Only then will the “brightest and best” return to serve the nation, knowing that their merit—not their connections—is their currency.
Obviously the way is there with leveraging the technology, would the lack of political will be its setback? Yes a lack of political will is frequently a significant setback for effectively leveraging technology to address societal challenges and drive progress. While technological solutions may exists, political factors can often hinder their successful implementation and widespread adoption, effectively resulting in a collective loss.
It is time to take the “Human Bias” out of the loop. Is the Government ready to let the data speak for itself? We challenge President Ali to lead this transformation into a “world-class” system you so often boast of. “The time is now—the moment is yours”