UAE launches first White Paper on regulatory intelligence at Davos meet

The UAE government has launched a ground-breaking White Paper titled 'The UAE: Shaping the Future of Regulatory Intelligence, from a static rulebook to a living, AI-powered regulatory ecosystem”, as part of the 56th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Davos.

The White Paper, developed by the General Secretariat of the UAE Cabinet, in collaboration with Presight (a G42 company) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), presents the UAE's vision and applied model for the Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem that adopts proactive and future-oriented approaches in developing regulations from fixed systems to an agile ecosystem that keeps pace with the demands of the Intelligent Age and the needs of the UAE, guided by data, and inspired by the vision of its wise leadership, and the values of its society.

In her keynote address, Maryam Bint Ahmed Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary-General of the UAE Cabinet, said, 'In a world where technology and business models evolve at unprecedented speed, regulatory cycles are moving beyond conventional approaches. Under the guidance of the UAE leadership and inspired by its national priorities and strategies, the UAE Government has set out to launch the first living and evolving Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem, driven by people and constantly adapting to changes, enabling a better and more prosperous life for everyone in the UAE.”

Al Hammadi added, 'This White Paper is both visionary and practical. It describes how an AI-powered regulatory ecosystem can enhance government effectiveness, enhance quality of life for all who live and do business in the UAE, and reinforce the UAE’s global competitiveness. It also reaffirms the UAE’s commitment to responsible innovation and represents an invitation for a global dialogue, enriched by the contributions of governments, thought leaders, experts, and private sector pioneers.”

During the event, Thomas Pramotedham, Presight Chief Executive Officer, commented, 'Presight congratulates the UAE government for once again demonstrating what it means to lead as an AI native nation. By pioneering a regulatory ecosystem built on intelligence, adaptability and trust, the UAE is setting a global benchmark for how governments can responsibly and boldly harness AI to elevate public services. This initiative enables a future focused mindset that does not wait for change, but actively shapes it by offering a model the world can learn from as AI becomes foundational to effective governance.”

The session was attended by Mohamed Kande, PwC Global Chairman.

Hani Ashkar, Middle East Senior Partner, at PwC Middle East, said, 'Partnering with the General Secretariat of the Cabinet on this world-first initiative reflects the UAE’s commitment to advancing governance through intelligence-led regulation. As the strategic partner, PwC is applying its NewLaw and GenAI capabilities at national scale to contribute to the design of an integrated regulatory ecosystem that links laws, outcomes and public services, establishing a global benchmark for responsible, future-ready lawmaking.”

This White Paper introduces several pioneering concepts for the first time. It presents the first Regulatory Intelligence Glossary of its kind, containing a set of concepts to establish a common language and unified methodology among legislators, policymakers, and technology developers.

The White Paper also sets out an unprecedented application of the concept of digital twins through the Unified Regulatory Digital Twin, as a live digital version of the regulatory ecosystem in the UAE with all its components and data that monitors changes in real time, analyses data, proposes legislative amendments, interacts with services in the field, and is linked to enforcement and judicial application mechanisms, simulating the impact on the economy and society in real time.

Given the constitutional and humane dimensions resulting from the deploying AI into regulation, the White Paper presents the Sovereign Governance-in-the-Loop (SGiL) framework that defines the role of AI as an assistant and not a replacement for legislators, whereby humans remain the decision-makers at every critical point from data to decision, further ensuring that AI outputs are consistent with constitutional principles and the legal system.

Similarly, the White Paper addresses the importance of the human role in the Intelligent Age by creating futuristic hybrid roles that combine legal disciplines and technology. Finally, the White Paper introduces a 'Regulatory Intelligence Innovation Loop” as a framework that ensures the responsible and continuous development of the Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem by governing the processes for proposing, evaluating, piloting, and deploying its new AI use cases.

The UAE positions the Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem as a globally relevant discipline, designed with openness, bilingual accessibility and interoperability in mind. It is offered as an invitation to partners worldwide to collaborate on next-generation, intelligence-led regulation that keeps pace with change while remaining firmly anchored in constitutional principles and the welfare of people.

WAM