English summary of a task force report on the Icelandic government's approach to AI

AI for Good

Iceland as a model society for using AI for good

Hjálmar GíslasonAnna Kristín TumadóttirAri Kristinn JónssonHalldór Fannar GuðjónssonLilja Dögg Jónsdóttir

AI for Good

The mandate

The task force on the government's approach to AI was appointed on 1 July 2026 by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education: five experts from outside government, three months of work and well over a hundred contributions from across society.

From the letter of appointment

“to assess the government's overall approach to AI in light of the technology's rapid development, and to propose priorities and improvements.”

In a nutshell

This report is the task force's assessment and recommendations. Decisions and next steps rest with the government.

About this summary. This is an English summary of Gervigreind til góðs (AI for Good), published in Icelandic on 9 October 2026. It covers the guiding light, the principles and the three outcomes in full, and the institutional arrangement and first steps in brief. The full report, with a chapter on AI and society, eight topic chapters and 69 recommendations in all, is published on the Government of Iceland's website, with a web version alongside it. Readers who want more detail are welcome to machine translate it.

Guiding light

AI for Good

Icelandic society can become a model for using AI for good: ambitious in its goals and responsible in its actions. AI should improve quality of life, public services and productivity - in Icelandic and on our own terms - so that the benefits reach everyone.

AI for Good

Principles

Society's capacity is the key

Iceland cannot control how the technology develops. Our skills, readiness, trust and ability to put AI to work decide whether it serves us well.

A mountain climb, not a moonshot

Advance in manageable, measurable stages with regular checkpoints along the way. But we are going for the summit!

No-regret moves, not bets

Focus on actions that hold up across a range of scenarios: how the technology evolves, how it affects society and how fast things change. Monitor developments, and be ready to act as uncertainty and impact grow.

Opportunities first

Make the most of what AI can do for quality of life, public services and productivity.

Prevent harm, where needed

Meet risks and challenges firmly as they emerge. Regulate harmful uses of a technology, not the technology itself.

Everyone included

Access and opportunity for everyone, whatever their circumstances. Public dialogue is part of the necessary AI infrastructure.

AI for Good

Three outcomes

The task force's recommendations converge on three outcomes, each with its own path:

Outcome 1

AI skills across society

  1. Give everyone the chance to understand AI's benefits and challenges and learn to use it, with training on work time. Teachers and managers first
  2. Set a national framework for AI in schools, and give teachers hands-on support from a small central team
  3. Measure AI's impact on the labour market, prepare for a range of scenarios and act when signals appear
Outcome 2

AI in Icelandic, on our own terms

  1. Open up Icelandic language and cultural data, in cooperation with rights holders
  2. Develop an open training recipe and benchmarks that help make any model fluent in Icelandic language, knowledge and values
  3. Run a swappable model under Icelandic control for sensitive public sector work
Outcome 3

Purposeful adoption of AI in the public sector

  1. Combine the state's core systems and IT operations under one unit with clear responsibilities and authority
  2. Develop clear guidance for use of AI and make sure it reaches every public employee
  3. Set up a small implementation task force and start two pilot projects: one shared across the public sector, one in-depth at a single institution
  4. Get public sector data in order, harmonise it and settle classification and access control

AI policy must move faster than the usual pace of politics and government.
The first steps can be taken immediately and require no new legislation.

Framework · 1/2

Institutional arrangement

Give AI a place at the top

A ministerial committee for at least three years, with coordination and overall strategy in the Prime Minister's Office. The ministry responsible for AI drafts the strategy and the committee adopts it.

Support each ministry's own work

A steering group of all ministries, and each ministry assigns one unit responsible for digital affairs. Responsibilities largely stay where they are.

Merge the state's core IT

One unit, Digital Iceland, under the Ministry of Finance, with clear responsibility and authority for government IT. It runs shared infrastructure, including a language model for government use, and remains the digital front door of government for residents and businesses.

Build the capacity to deliver

A nimble AI implementation task force inside Digital Iceland, where the authority sits. Start small: one project across government and one at a single institution. A small team steers and the market scales.

Secure continuity beyond elections

An independent AI council publishing an assessment twice a year, which the ministerial committee must answer in public.

Why

Responsibility is scattered, and recommendations without an owner gather dust.
Our mandate was AI, but AI in government runs on IT, so we address both.

Org chart of the proposed institutional arrangement: a ministerial committee on AI with the Prime Minister's Office at its core, an independent AI council that advises it and is owed a public response, a steering group of all ministries, the Ministry of Finance with Digital Iceland, the ministry responsible for AI with the Centre for AI and Language Technology, and the line ministries, each owning AI's impact in its own field.
What changes

Policy stays with the line ministries.
New: a ministerial committee, steering group, AI council and a new Digital Iceland.

Closing

First steps

Prime Minister's Office

Appoint the ministerial committee on AI, the steering group of all ministries and the independent AI council. Task Statistics Iceland with measuring AI's impact on the labour market. The steering group launches the education drive.

Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education

Update the AI and language technology plan. Start work on an open training recipe and Icelandic benchmarks. Tell cultural institutions clearly that opening up their collections is government policy.

Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs

Merge Digital Iceland and the IT side of Umbra, the government's operations agency, into one unit with clear responsibility and authority. Set up the implementation task force and choose two pilot projects.

Ministry of Education and Children

Form a national framework for AI in schools and set up a central team that works alongside teachers.

All ministries

Give one unit in each ministry responsibility for digital affairs and AI. Put guidance and approved tools in the hands of all staff.

One year from now

Every recommendation has an owner and the pilot projects are in use.
The first training recipe is out and the AI council is operating as planned.

Closing words

We believe Iceland can use AI for good, for the benefit of all of society. We do not underestimate the challenges. They are real, and some are unknown and without precedent. Iceland will not lead the technology's development globally, so building society's capacity is how we meet them.

Iceland is a small country with short lines of communication. That is a strength, but only if responsibility is clear and the work actually gets done. That is why so many of our recommendations are about who takes the work forward and how it is followed through.

We thank everyone who gave their time to talk with us, write to us and challenge our thinking. The conclusions are far better for it. We are glad to present the recommendations as widely as we can and to take part in the conversation that follows, in whatever way is asked of us.

Beyond this summary

In the full report

Society
  • AI and society: technology at a turning point, the labour market, business and innovation support, equality and welfare, democracy and the media, security, trust and dialogue
Skills
On our own terms
Adoption and framework

AI for Good

Iceland as a model society for using AI for good

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