Summary
São Tomé and Príncipe convened its first National Internet Governance Forum (FGISTP2025) on 28–30 July 2025, organised by the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure and Natural Resources through the General Regulatory Authority (AGER). The theme was “Connectivity as a Pillar for Digital Inclusion.” Among the topics addressed were the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence, alongside digital infrastructure, e-governance, data protection, and internet governance.
Key details
The forum brought together government agencies, civil society, the private sector, and international partners to discuss internet governance priorities. AI was included as a discussion topic alongside digital inclusion and data protection, but no legislative output, dedicated AI body, or funded programme was announced as a result. The event marks the first formal national-level policy discussion that explicitly includes AI as a governance topic.
The country has a documented National Cybersecurity Strategy and is working toward e-government system implementation. Discussions at the forum referenced AI and machine learning as emerging considerations for future e-government architecture.
Scoring relevance
Dimension 10 — AGER (General Regulatory Authority) has a digital governance mandate but is not a named AI-specific body. The forum is an advisory and consultative event, not a regulatory structure. Score: 0 (consultation event without a named AI governance mandate does not meet even the advisory threshold).