The Complete Guide to Using AI in the Government Industry in Fiji in 2025

For Fiji's government, AI is no longer a distant promise but a practical lever to improve healthcare, education, tourism and public safety - boosting early disease detection in rural clinics, tailoring learning for remote students, and even enabling coral reef monitoring that triggers faster responses to bleaching events and protects fisheries-linked livelihoods; see Vodafone Fiji's overview of:

Vodafone Fiji overview: "Artificial Intelligence for a Better Fiji"

At the same time, AI reduces paperwork, speeds citizen responses and strengthens predictive planning - key public-sector gains highlighted in Emitrr's analysis of AI in government (Emitrr analysis: AI in government - smarter, more efficient public sector).

To move from pilot to scale, targeted workforce training matters: practical courses like the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp equip staff to write prompts, use AI tools, and apply them across functions - training that helps turn insights into services Fijians can rely on (AI Essentials for Work syllabus - Nucamp).

Fiji currently has no single, comprehensive AI law - legal treatment of AI remains piecemeal as the government builds policy around cybersecurity, data protection and ethics rather than an AI-specific statute, a gap Law Gratis documents while noting active work on governance and a National Digital Strategy (and cybersecurity plan) announced in 2024 by the Deputy Prime Minister (Law Gratis analysis: Artificial intelligence law in Fiji).

Personal privacy is anchored in Clause 24 of the 2013 Constitution rather than a modern data-protection act, and protection of personal information is handled unevenly through sector laws such as the Banking Act 1995 and the Cybercrime Act 2021, as summarised by DLA Piper's country note (DLA Piper country note: Data protection laws in Fiji).

That legal patchwork has real consequences on the ground: authorities and advocates warn that outdated statutes make it harder to tackle harms like voice-cloning and manipulated images, which disproportionately affect women and girls, and international partners are already helping Fiji pilot AI tools for disaster response and resilience as the country races to translate strategic commitments into enforceable rules (Pacific Islands AI report: AI threats in Fiji and data protection laws).

The near-term picture is therefore transitional - legal rights to privacy exist, sector safeguards offer some protection, but coherent AI-specific regulation, institutional enforcement and public awareness remain urgent priorities.

“We are still using archaic laws… while perpetrators stay steps ahead with AI tools,”

The Fiji National Digital Strategy 2025–2030 deliberately builds the plumbing before switching on the robot - sequencing cybersecurity, a national ID and cloud/data frameworks, broad digital literacy and inclusion goals, and then layering in AI so that new systems plug into trusted foundations rather than fragile pilots; the RegTech overview makes this clear when it notes the plan “starts sensibly” with year-by-year milestones and moves to an AI framework in 2027 (RegTech analysis of Fiji Digital Transformation Strategy (June 2025)).

Concrete targets - 80% of key services online by 2030, 40,000 ICT jobs, 80% digital inclusion and 50% 5G coverage - signal both ambition and measurable accountability, while the push for a national digital ID and eKYC under the National E‑Commerce and ID agenda anchors AI use in verified, privacy‑aware identity workflows (Fiji Times article on Fiji's National Digital Strategy).

The strategy's practical markers - like a Tourism Digital Platform aiming for 50,000 users and a national sandbox and health information exchange in later years - turn abstract AI promises into testable services that can protect coral‑reef monitoring, disaster response and public health systems; that tangible user milestone is a vivid reminder that policy is meant to change daily life, not just sit in a drawer.

“address weaknesses in digital skills, prepare students for a changing job market, and support national and regional workforce needs.”

Fiji's early public signals show governance taking shape around familiar institutions rather than a single AI ministry: Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has made clear that AI rules will be folded into a wider cybersecurity and National Digital Strategy, a practical stance that leans on existing agencies and cross‑sector programmes rather than waiting for a bespoke AI law (Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica AI governance announcement - FBC News); at the same time, high‑visibility launches like the Hummingbird META 2025 initiative signal political will to tether innovation to inclusion and MSME support across Suva and the outer islands (Hummingbird META 2025 initiative launch - Fiji Government).

Regional commentary urges that Fiji convert these signals into grassroots capacity - building local talent, a national AI Hub and practical partnerships so Suva sets policy that fits Fijian needs rather than importing one‑size‑fits‑all models; a vivid example is the Guangzhou donation of an AI lab for Yat Sen Secondary School, an image that captures both opportunity and the risk of depending on external tools (Pacific Island nations AI leadership analysis - East Asia Forum).

Clear institutional roles, coordination between universities, regulators and the ministries driving the National Digital Strategy, and steady public messaging will determine whether those early promises translate into accountable, locally owned AI systems for health, disaster response and livelihoods.

“We looking at it from a cybersecurity lens, so we are developing a cybersecurity strategy for Fiji and National Digital Strategy so AI governance will be part of it as well.”

Data protection in Fiji sits in a risky middle ground for government AI: some official building blocks exist - including constitutional protections for “personal privacy” and reporting that the Privacy Act 2021 and a Privacy Commissioner aim to strengthen transparency and rights - but authoritative surveys warn the country still lacks a clear, comprehensive personal data regime and national enforcement capacity, leaving cross‑border transfers, breach notification, DPO roles and automated‑decision safeguards under‑specified; DLA Piper and the IAPP characterise the legal treatment as piecemeal while the National Digital ID programme (Cabinet‑approved in 2024) moves ahead without published rules for biometric protection or data governance, meaning the rollout could inadvertently exclude the roughly 29% of people who lacked birth certificates in 2021 unless alternate access paths are protected.

For practical AI uses in health, disaster response or coral monitoring, sector laws (for example the Banking Act 1995 and Cybercrime Act 2021) offer narrow protections, but they do not replace a modern data‑protection framework - a reality noted in both the DLA Piper country note and regional ID analysis - so planners should treat data flows, model training data and consent procedures as high‑risk until the National Digital Strategy and any new privacy rules are codified (Privacy law in Fiji - Law Gratis, Fiji National Digital ID overview - SEAP, DLA Piper: Data protection laws in Fiji).

“a single, secure, and inclusive proof of identity”

Fiji's technical foundations make real AI services possible, but readiness is uneven: strong mobile penetration and improving fixed speeds mean models can run and citizens can use apps in many places, yet remote and outer islands still lag.

The January 2025 Digital 2025: Fiji report shows 739k internet users (79.4% penetration) with 1.41M mobile connections (152% of the population) and a median fixed download speed of 30.22 Mbps, while a later UNESCO assessment covered by the Fiji Times records even higher overall penetration (a headline 97%) and highlights undersea fibre‑optic links plus the promise of LEO satellites to close gaps - helpful details for a nation scattered across more than 300 islands.

In short, the infrastructure story for government AI is mixed: affordable, fast links and broad social‑media reach create a viable user base, but policy makers must prioritise reliable rural access, multisector connectivity plans and formal inclusion measures so a national AI rollout doesn't become an urban‑only experiment; see the UNESCO internet assessment (Fiji Times), the Digital 2025 Fiji country report (DataReportal), and how the National Digital Strategy sequences connectivity and AI adoption for practical rollout.

Practical AI use in Fiji's public sector starts where everyday livelihoods meet data: in agriculture, AI-powered climate advisories can give smallholder farmers hyper-local, actionable weather and planting guidance so decisions - like delaying sowing ahead of a localized downpour - become evidence‑based rather than guesswork (see the ICRISAT AI‑powered climate advisory initiative for how hyper‑local services are designed).

Backed by technical assistance that strengthens policy, data systems and drone‑based monitoring, the CTCN programme for climate‑resilient agriculture shows how government can pair models with revised land and extension policies to scale resilience across communities and protect the roughly 60% of households that depend on farming.

Health systems stand to gain from smarter EHR workflows and focused health‑informatics training that shift staff from paperwork to clinical support roles, while tourism and coastal management benefit when AI flags reef bleaching early and links alerts to fisheries and visitor‑management channels - practical coral reef monitoring with AI can speed responses that protect both livelihoods and the visitor experience.

Together, these use cases - climate advisories, smarter crop recommendations, drone and satellite inputs, EHR efficiencies and coral monitoring - form a concrete roadmap: modest tech pilots become powerful public services only when paired with policy reform, training and regional development funding that can take local pilots to scale (ICRISAT AI‑powered climate advisory, CTCN technical capacity enhancement for climate‑resilient agriculture in Fiji, coral reef monitoring with AI).

Scaling AI in Fiji depends less on flashy pilots and more on steady capacity building through institutions and education: Suva has already made AI a pillar of its development plan and launched a national AI Hub to drive research and competitiveness, while international partners and local programs - from the KPMG AI Build Hub in Suva (which trains local professionals and promises new jobs) to a Guangzhou‑donated AI lab giving Yat Sen Secondary students hands‑on machine learning and robotics experience - are filling practical skills gaps (Lowy Institute analysis: Pacific island nations must reboot regional AI leadership).

Higher education and public awareness are also shifting: Fiji National University is revising academic integrity rules and running staff‑and‑student campaigns on responsible AI use, and government plans to create an Education Commission to advise on AI readiness and curricula for schools and civil servants (Law Gratis guide to artificial intelligence law and policy in Fiji, Complete AI Training report: Fiji urged to prioritize AI readiness amid growing concerns).

The memorable test will be whether training turns into homegrown tools - not just imported systems - so that teachers, civil servants and farmers can use AI safely and confidently, and regional technical support (a recommended Pacific AI facility) helps anchor long‑term, locally led expertise.

Fiji faces clear, practical risks as AI and wider digital systems scale: the Parliament has warned the country is vulnerable to cyber‑attacks and harmful online activity, from harassment to service disruption, so the stakes are real for citizen trust and continuity of government services (Parliament of Fiji cybersecurity vulnerability warning); the good news is that frameworks are already being strengthened - the Cybersecurity Act (2021), Online Safety Act (2018) and earlier National Cybersecurity Strategy underpin a national push, and the World Bank's KoDi partnership is helping build a national cybersecurity centre and incident‑response capabilities after workshops in Suva to grow a specialist workforce (World Bank KoDi support for strengthening Fiji cybersecurity).

Yet significant safeguards remain unfinished: there is no specific personal data protection law or national data‑protection authority, and protections currently rely on constitutional privacy guarantees and a patchwork of sector laws - a gap that leaves automated decision‑making, model training data and cross‑border transfers exposed unless systems are designed defensively from day one (DLA Piper country guide: data protection in Fiji).

Practical next steps - investing in an incident response team, mandatory breach notification, workforce upskilling, and binding rules for digital ID and biometric use - would turn high‑level strategy into on‑the‑ground safeguards so that a single breach does not ripple through vital services.

Practical next steps for deploying AI across Fiji's government start with the basics the 2024 Government AI Readiness Index highlights: a clear national AI vision, stronger governance & ethics, and reliable data and infrastructure - concrete building blocks that turn pilots into public services rather than one-off experiments.

Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index 2024 Policymakers should adopt a governance-first posture - establish an AI oversight committee, require human-in-the-loop checks for high-risk systems, and embed impact assessments and model inventories - using proven frameworks and risk registries as guides; see practical program elements in RSM's governance approach and the NIST AI RMF referenced there: RSM AI governance services and frameworks.

Parallel investments in cybersecurity (incident response and mandatory breach notification), data governance for the National Digital ID, and targeted capacity building will keep systems resilient and inclusive; workforce training matters here, and practical courses like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work give civil servants hands-on skills to write prompts, use tools responsibly, and translate models into services citizens can trust: AI Essentials for Work syllabus - Nucamp Bootcamp.

Start small with measurable pilots - health triage, reef-monitoring alerts or climate advisories - evaluate outcomes, harden governance, and scale only after audits and community consultations ensure fairness and security; that stepwise approach turns ambition into reliable public value without exposing citizens to undue risk.