Inclusion in Practice: Governing AI-Enabled Service Delivery in Bangladesh
How South Asian nations can govern the rise of AI and digital public infrastructure in ways that protect rights, strengthen democratic institutions, and accelerate inclusive economic growth — refined into an actionable roadmap centred on Bangladesh.
2026–27 Policy Residency
Andre Policzer | Kim Moriarity | Jehan Mohamed
Authors
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Kimberley Moriarity
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Jehan Mohamed
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Andre Policzer
Acknowledgement
Sonja Solomun
Assistant Research Professor, Max Bell School, McGill University, and
Deputy Director, Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy.
The Challenge
Nations across South Asia are investing rapidly in artificial intelligence and digital public infrastructure to deliver government services and drive economic growth. That expansion could transform access to benefits, welfare, and digital identification — but it's unfolding in a setting marked by structural inequality and limited regulatory capacity. Vision 2041 and Bangladesh's draft National AI Policy (2026–2030) mark the country's clearest acknowledgment yet that rapid digitalization must be matched by a deliberate framework for governance. This report is written to strengthen that policy as it moves toward implementation.
"An AI system can only ever be as good as the data and design choices beneath it."
This report responds to the challenge posed by BacharLorai Global: how can South Asian nations govern the rise of AI and digital public infrastructure in ways that protect rights, strengthen democratic institutions, and accelerate inclusive economic growth? We refined this regional scope into an actionable report centred on Bangladesh, asking how to govern AI-enabled digital government service delivery to promote inclusivity alongside economic growth.
In the wake of Bangladesh's transition to a new government, the regulatory environment around AI remains nascent — creating a clear policy window to design frameworks centred on accountability, transparency, and equitable access, before efficiency-first design choices lock in inequitable outcomes. This report is intended to strengthen and build upon the National AI Policy as it moves toward implementation, through three actionable recommendations.
Key Insights
Efficiency without equity reinforces exclusion
AI-enabled service delivery can reproduce structural exclusion when efficiency is prioritized without equity considerations — restricting access for populations already underrepresented in the data these tools rely on.
Inclusion is a design choice, not a policy line
Inclusion isn't guaranteed by policy commitments alone. It depends on implementation decisions — mobile-first design, local-language interfaces, voice interaction, and assisted-access pathways.
Imported models can undermine local agency
AI systems developed in the Global North often embed assumptions that don't align with Bangladesh's social, linguistic, and economic realities. Meaningful AI sovereignty requires local control over data and standards.
Informal brokers are the real access layer
In Bangladesh, digital adoption frequently runs through trusted intermediaries — shopkeepers, community organizations, telecom agents, Union Digital Centres — rather than direct interaction with government systems.
Recommendations
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Implement audits of government service delivery tools through the use of pre- and post-deployment AIAs for automated decision-making to ensure administrative actions adhere to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and mechanisms for citizen redress.
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Enable government procurement to mandate AI systems’ operational fluency in Bangla, regional dialects, and minority languages to better target low-literacy users, with reporting requirements disaggregated by accuracy and usability to mitigate risks of exclusion.
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Leverage existing social and civil society networks to support digital adoption by integrating trusted community intermediaries into AI service delivery for awareness, literacy, access, and community feedback, to reach populations least likely to engage with digital systems directly.
Read the Full Brief
This policy brief is part of BacharLorai Global's 2026–27 Policy Residency program, which supports emerging policy professionals in producing original, actionable research on issues affecting Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi diaspora.
SUGGESTED CITATION
K. Moriarity, J. Mohamed and A. Policzer. 2026. Inclusion in Practice: Governing AI-Enabled Service Delivery in Bangladesh. Toronto: BacharLorai Global.
Policy Residency
The BacharLorai Policy Residency invites graduate-level researchers from world renowned universities to work a pressing policy challenge affecting the global south.
Their research is published online and disseminated through parallel events during global gatherings.
Residency Team
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Nahid Tahrima Rashid
Manager, Policy Residency
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Aditi Zahir
Director, Policy Research