Governments' readiness for AI: Albania 81st in the world, the region ahead with concrete measures

2026-01-08 07:39:00, Aktualitet CNA

Governments' readiness for AI: Albania 81st in the world, the region ahead

Albania ranks 81st in the world for readiness for artificial intelligence, according to the Government AI Readiness Index published by Oxford Insights, with relatively good results in the use of AI in the public sector, but with significant shortcomings in policy and technological development.

While other Eastern European countries have moved into the phase of approved strategies and concrete measures, Albania still remains in a phase of building its framework for artificial intelligence.

According to the six indicators, the country's highest score is related to the use of AI in the public sector, where Albania reaches 68.95 points, an indicator of the relatively advanced level of adoption of digital and intelligent solutions in public administration. Governance is also assessed with 51.67 points, reflecting the existence of institutional structures and regulatory mechanisms that support the use of new technologies.

In terms of infrastructure for artificial intelligence, Albania scores 48.44 points, while societal and institutional sustainability scores 46.09 points, indicating a functional basis for further development of AI. However, challenges remain in the capacity for policy design and implementation (23.00 points) as well as in the development and diffusion of technology (28.55 points), areas where the country still has considerable room for improvement.

While some Eastern European countries have already moved into the phase of concrete and structured measures, through the adoption of national strategies for artificial intelligence, multi-year action plans, and direct investments in infrastructure, Albania is still in a more embryonic phase of this process.

The initiatives undertaken so far have been mainly demonstrative and symbolic in nature, especially in the public sector, while a fully approved strategic framework and a clear implementation plan for the development and dissemination of artificial intelligence in the economy and society are still lacking.

In this context, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in 2025 the creation of the “Al Minister”, the first fully virtual minister in the country, and then symbolically declared the “pregnancy” of the minister, who “brought to life” 83 digital and artificial intelligence assistants to support MPs in their daily work. In August, Albania announced the imminent publication of its first national strategy for artificial intelligence, driven by the head of government’s increased interest in AI.

Elsewhere in the region, countries are building vibrant startup and innovation ecosystems, developing human capital, and identifying opportunities for closer cooperation with the European Union. The region includes Estonia, a long-time innovator in digital governance and one of the countries that continues to excel in the field of AI, as well as Ukraine, which has rapidly attracted global attention for its digital strengths and institutional leadership.

In February, the Estonian government announced the launch of AI Leap, a public-private partnership initiative aimed at the sustainable and responsible integration of artificial intelligence into the education system.

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation unveiled in April 2025 an innovation center called "WINWIN AI Center of Excellence," which will serve as a national platform for testing and scaling innovative technologies in key areas such as defense, cybersecurity, healthcare, and public services. In November, it launched its national AI strategy, with the ambitious goal of ranking among the top three global countries in this field by 2030.

In Croatia, the Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation presented in May the plan for publishing the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence for the period 2026–2028.

In this regional context, Serbia stands out as one of the leaders in Eastern Europe, ranked 39th in the world out of 195 countries. With this result, Serbia is among the 20% of economies most prepared globally for artificial intelligence, significantly above the world average and ahead of many European Union member states.

The group of 20% of countries most prepared for AI today includes the most developed and technologically advanced economies, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Singapore, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

Serbia ranks higher than countries like Mexico, Turkey, Egypt and Argentina, as well as ahead of neighboring countries – Greece, Croatia and Romania, and above all other Western Balkan countries.

Serbia's high ranking is the result of nearly a decade of systematic digital transformation, improvements in public administration, and strategic investments in new technologies.

The Director of the Office for Information Technologies and E-Government, Mihailo Jovanovi?, emphasized that Serbia continues to make significant investments in state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and that a new supercomputer is planned to be put into operation in 2026, which will be available to the scientific community, startups, businesses and state institutions, with the aim of further strengthening the development of artificial intelligence, innovation and the digital economy.

The Government AI Readiness Index, published by Oxford Insights, assesses the readiness of economies to adopt AI in six key areas: capacity for policy design and implementation, governance and regulatory framework, infrastructure for AI, public sector application, technology development and diffusion, and social and institutional sustainability./monitor