By Advent Shoko | ZiGoats
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is helping governments develop their own artificial intelligence (AI) solutions through GENIE.AI, an open-source platform designed to make AI more accessible to developing countries with limited resources and technical expertise.
The initiative reflects the work of Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), whose focus on practical digital solutions and local capacity-building provides a strong basis for a second term in office.
GENIE.AI enables governments and public institutions to build, test and run AI-powered services tailored to their national priorities, rather than depending entirely on costly external solutions.
“GENIE.AI empowers countries with AI while strengthening their local capacities, technological independence, and influence over their respective digital futures,” Zavazava said in an article published on 22 October 2026.
For developing countries, the challenge is not simply accessing AI technology. Many lack the funding, infrastructure, skilled personnel and technical support needed to turn it into useful public services.
GENIE.AI is designed to help close that gap through a modular, open-source and model-agnostic framework that allows countries to develop solutions around their own needs.
ITU began developing the framework in 2024, adopted its high-level architecture in January 2025 and proceeded with technical development. The platform was officially launched in July 2026.
Turning AI Into Practical Solutions
The initiative is already supporting efforts to apply AI to real-world challenges.
Through the Global GenAI for Good Challenge, launched in partnership with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), developers were invited to create AI solutions for public-sector needs in Bangladesh, The Gambia and Lesotho.
Three winning teams were selected to implement one-year pilot projects, which were approaching completion in October.
In Kenya, ITU has equipped government agencies and local developers with expertise in open-source AI, with a functional service expected to be released within months.
In El Salvador, the framework has supported AgroGenio, an AI-powered agricultural advisory prototype built around more than 150 national and international agricultural guidelines and manuals.
The project demonstrates how AI can turn established knowledge into practical guidance for agricultural professionals, with potential for wider national deployment.
These efforts build on ITU’s Open Source Ecosystem Enabler programme, launched in 2023 to strengthen local technical skills, institutions and technology communities.
The bureau is also working with partners including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization and IEEE, alongside technology companies Intel and IBM.
The aim is to combine technical expertise with local knowledge so that countries can develop, adapt and maintain their own solutions.
Why Local Ownership Matters
For many developing countries, the real test of AI is whether it can improve people’s lives without creating another layer of dependence on external technology providers.
GENIE.AI seeks to address that concern by giving public institutions a framework they can adapt to their own priorities while building the skills needed to sustain the technology.
The initiative also responds to calls for stronger AI infrastructure, readiness and capacity in developing countries, reflected in a resolution on AI technologies in telecommunications development adopted at ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference 2025 (WTDC-25).
ITU’s longer-term ambition is to help countries implement AI solutions locally while sharing knowledge and successful innovations internationally.
That approach places public-sector needs and national capacity at the centre of digital transformation, rather than treating technology adoption as an end in itself.
A Record Worth Building On
GENIE.AI adds to the case for continuity in the leadership of ITU’s development bureau.
Zavazava’s work has helped move the conversation beyond the promise of artificial intelligence towards a framework intended to help governments develop practical applications, strengthen local expertise and exercise greater control over their digital futures.
The initiative is still at an early stage, and its lasting value will depend on how effectively pilot projects translate into sustainable services and how widely countries adopt the framework. However, its direction addresses a critical development challenge: ensuring that countries with fewer resources are not left behind as AI transforms economies and public institutions.
Against that backdrop, a second term for Zavazava would be a befitting reward for the work undertaken so far and an opportunity to consolidate the progress made.
The ultimate measure of success will be whether governments can use these tools to deliver better services, develop home-grown expertise and build AI systems that respond to their citizens’ needs.
GENIE.AI offers a practical starting point. Its success could help determine whether developing countries become active participants in the AI revolution or remain dependent on solutions developed elsewhere.
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