The Digital Cooperation Organization has launched its Ethical AI Guidebook for Policymakers, a new resource designed to help governments develop responsible, trustworthy, and inclusive artificial intelligence governance frameworks. The guidebook was unveiled during a high level session held in partnership with the Saudi Data and AI Authority and the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics, on the sidelines of the first United Nations Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance in Geneva. The launch comes during Pakistan’s tenure as president of the DCO Council for the 2026 term, a role the country assumed from Kuwait at the organisation’s 5th General Assembly in February.
Titled Responsible, Trusted, and Safe AI for Prosperity: From Principles to Practice, the session brought together policymakers, international organisations, technology leaders, academics, civil society representatives, and members of the technical community to discuss practical approaches to AI governance and international cooperation. The guidebook is intended for policymakers, regulators, and national AI task forces, helping them translate ethical AI principles into effective national policies, legislation, and governance frameworks.
Announcing the guidebook, Digital Cooperation Organization Secretary General Deemah AlYahya said the world has reached broad agreement on the principles of responsible and trustworthy AI but continues to lack the practical capacity to implement them. She said more than half the world’s nations are not currently shaping the rules governing the AI age, describing the gap as a question of equity over who sets the standards and who is left to simply follow them. She added that the guidebook is designed to put practical tools directly in the hands of governments so that AI can become a trusted engine of digital prosperity for all nations, not only those already leading its development.
The publication is grounded in the Digital Cooperation Organization’s existing Principles for Ethical AI and the Riyadh AI Call to Action Declaration, and forms part of the organisation’s broader AI governance ecosystem, which also includes the DCO AI Ethics Evaluator, the AI-REAL Toolkit and Web Portal, and the Digital Economy Navigator. As DCO Council president for 2026, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said the country’s leadership term will place particular emphasis on digital education, online safety, and equal access to technology, with a stated goal of ensuring the benefits of AI governance tools such as this guidebook reach youth, women, and all member countries rather than concentrating among a small group of technologically advanced nations.
As part of the main programme of the UN Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, AlYahya also participated in a high level panel discussion alongside leaders from the AI industry and civil society, presenting what the organisation describes as the perspective of the World Digital Majority in global discussions on inclusive AI governance. The Digital Cooperation Organization, established in 2020 with Pakistan among its founding members, brings together the ministries responsible for communications and information technology across its 16 member states, representing a combined economy worth nearly 3.5 trillion dollars. The newly launched guidebook is now publicly available through the organisation’s official website, with Pakistan’s presidency continuing through the year ahead of the next General Assembly.
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