Banj, the Internet Society Haiti Chapter, the Higher School of Infotronics of Haiti, and the Association for Responsible AI signed, on August 10, 2026, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of the Pro-AI project, a collaboration protocol aimed at laying the groundwork for a national roadmap on the responsible and ethical adoption of artificial intelligence in Haiti.
Banj, the Internet Society Haiti Chapter, the École supérieure d’infotronique of Haiti, and the Association for Responsible AI signed, on August 10, 2026, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of the Pro-AI project, a collaboration agreement aimed at laying the groundwork for a national roadmap on the responsible and ethical adoption of artificial intelligence in Haiti.The ceremony, held at the BID office in Bourdon, brought together several players involved in the development of digital technology in Haiti. It was followed by a press briefing during which the officials presented the main directions of the project. The Pro-AI project is built around four pillars: training, the development of a training plan, the creation of a roadmap for AI implementation, and the establishment of a Pro-AI network. Two documents were also presented on this occasion: a mapping of the AI ecosystem in Haiti and an international reference guide for developing a national artificial intelligence strategy in resource-limited countries.
From the start, the program initially planned to train 125 people. Over 2,000 expressions of interest were received from students, private sector professionals, and public sector representatives. “It’s solid proof that Haitians are interested in AI,” said Marc Alain Boussicault, founder and CEO of Banj. For him, the goal isn’t just training; it’s about making AI a tool that can contribute to the country’s economic growth and create new opportunities in the digital sector. He hopes to present a document that could serve as a basis for public policy, submitted to authorities and international donors, “so that all Haitians know, among all the opportunities AI offers, what their priority is.””It is with great satisfaction that we present this joint work, which aims to prepare Haiti to take its place in the artificial intelligence revolution. The latter is already transforming our economy, our institutions, our professions, our way of producing, and making decisions,” said Max Larson Henry. For him, the question for Haiti is no longer whether this transformation will affect it, but how the country will organize itself to participate and benefit from it. No institution or skill alone can build a real strategy around AI. We need to bring together infrastructure, skills, research, training, and the ability to support innovation. “Haiti should not just be a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere; we need to develop our own skills, create our own solutions, and use AI to respond to our own reality.”
From Consumer to Producer
For Patrick Attié, Haiti needs to go even further. “Haiti has a role to play not just as a consumer, but also as a producer,” he emphasized. He believes the country already holds a certain leadership position in the Caribbean region when it comes to the use of and interest in AI, citing the DevExpo focused on AI, which drew thousands of people, as well as several events organized each year by ESIH, Banj, and its partners. Haiti is not behind, as one might think, he says. The challenge now is to better document these experiences and strengthen them with precise data and indicators.Patrick Attié identifies two critical foundations: data and institutional capacity. Structuring the data should provide a solid base to develop applications suited to Haitian realities. At the same time, institutions need to be able to set the necessary rules to support AI development. Haiti already has what he calls “execution leadership” but still needs to develop true “decision-making leadership.” The signed protocol is meant to help close this gap.In this approach, he sees generative AI as a strategic entry point. Governance should allow for ‘framing without blocking,’ balancing innovation with final human responsibility, data protection, minimum transparency, and controlled experimentation. For Patrick Attié, a national AI strategy isn’t a luxury. It’s a governance tool that allows Haiti to turn its structural constraints into structured opportunities.
