Dominican Republic approves Code of Ethics for AI in public services

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – The Dominican national government has formally enacted a landmark regulatory framework via Decree 787-26, rolling out a dedicated Code of Ethics for Artificial Intelligence deployed across all public service domains to anchor the technology’s use in principles of accountability, safety, full transparency, and equitable inclusion for all citizens. The comprehensive set of rules was drafted through an inclusive, cross-sector collaborative process steered by two key government bodies: the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (OGTIC) and the General Directorate of Ethics and Governmental Integrity (DIGEIG). Every provision in the new code is calibrated to align with globally recognized governance standards advanced by leading intergovernmental bodies UNESCO and the OECD, ensuring the Dominican Republic’s AI regulatory regime matches international best practices. Under the new rules, any high-stakes AI system that stands to impact fundamental citizen rights, eligibility for critical social welfare programs, or the issuance of government penalties will be legally required to complete a rigorous ethical and human rights impact assessment before it can be launched for public use. The framework also codifies explicit, enforceable rights for Dominican citizens: every person is entitled to clear notification if an AI tool was involved in reaching an administrative decision that affects them, the right to request a full, plain-language explanation of that decision, and the ability to appeal the ruling to a human government official for a full independent review. The code explicitly bans a suite of high-risk AI applications that have sparked global civil liberties concerns, including blanket population-wide social scoring systems, unregulated mass biometric surveillance deployments, biased predictive tools used for criminal profiling, fully automated criminal sentencing processes, and the development or deployment of autonomous weapons systems. Extra targeted safeguards are also written into the rules to protect the privacy and well-being of children and adolescents, while all public sector agencies are mandated to require third-party AI vendors to provide binding guarantees around end-to-end data security, full operational traceability, and unrestricted access for government audits. To oversee consistent rollout and ongoing governance of the new rules, the decree also establishes a multi-stakeholder National Council for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, with formal representation from government agencies, leading academic research institutions, and civil society advocacy groups to ensure diverse perspectives shape implementation. All public sector entities across the country are given a 180-calendar-day transition window to adjust their internal operational workflows, log all existing AI systems in a centralized public registry, designate dedicated senior staff to oversee AI ethics compliance, and fully roll out every required measure outlined in the new regulatory code. This update is brought to readers by DominicanScope, the leading source for in-depth Dominican Republic policy and technology news.