Georgia GovTech Innovation Lab (GTIL)

The problem

Georgia's public sector faces technical and human capital shortages when it comes to designing and delivering complex digital projects. At the same time, the country's universities are producing AI research and training PhD-level specialists, but there is no structured mechanism for connecting this academic expertise with the operational needs of government agencies. Research remains siloed in universities, while ministries lack the in-house capacity to scope, build, or oversee AI-driven tools. The Georgia GovTech Innovation Lab (GTIL) is proposed to address this disconnect.

The solution

To bridge this gap, GTIL proposes a “Digital Transformation Ambassadors” programme, using a low-cost PPP model that leverages existing academic infrastructure and human capital. The model is designed to take PhD candidates and researchers from Business and Technology University and embed them directly into government ministries, where they would work alongside civil servants as technical liaisons. Rather than ministries needing to recruit or procure AI expertise on their own, the programme aims to place researchers inside departments to co-design solutions tailored to each ministry's specific operational needs.

The approach is designed to be low-cost by drawing on existing academic infrastructure and human capital rather than requiring new investment in technology or facilities. The programme is currently at the conceptual and pilot design stage, with a pilot phase planned for early 2026 and the objective to place researchers across multiple national ministries.

The initiative remains a strategic research and policy concept and has not yet been formally implemented. The strategic framework was developed in late 2025; with a Pilot Phase (Phase I: Pilot & Prototyping) planned for early 2026.

The impact

The initiative is in its early conceptual stage. To date, the main deliverable has been the development of a strategic framework for Georgia's GovTech ecosystem, which sets out how academic AI expertise can be systematically connected to government operations.

The initiative has set the following proposed targets for its first year: launching three pilot AI projects with national ministries, integrating five to ten PhD researchers into public workflows, and achieving a 30% reduction in the time required for prototyping government AI tools.

Lessons learned

Human capital matters more than physical infrastructure. The conceptual model suggests that placing skilled people inside government — through the "Ambassadors" model — is more effective at bridging technical gaps than investing in new infrastructure or facilities. By embedding researchers directly into ministries, this model is designed to address capacity shortages without requiring significant upfront spending on technology or equipment.

Agile partnership models can reduce institutional risk. The initiative is designed on the premise that structuring the initiative as an agile public-private partnership (PPP) — in this case between a university and government ministries — can help minimise institutional risk and navigate bureaucratic silos. Rather than committing to large-scale procurement or long-term contracts, the partnership model allowed both sides to test the approach at a small scale before expanding.

The initiative is shaped by the development of the National AI Strategy and Data Governance protocols. It ensures full alignment with the OECD AI Principles regarding transparency and accountability, while integrating into Georgia's national security architecture.