Status as of 9 October 2026: we could not find a public notice from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Jamaica Information Service or the National AI Task Force confirming that the AI policy consultation website has opened. The draft national AI policy is due by November 2026. It has not been published.
The consultation was meant to start by 11 September. Task Force Chairman Christopher Reckord told the Financial Gleaner on 16 August that a consultation website would launch by then, so people could comment before a national framework was finished.
On 31 August, Reckord told Television Jamaica that the task force was preparing a first-draft green paper that would move through formal steps before public consultation. Input is expected from the public, academia, civil society and industry. That suggests the comment window follows the green paper, not the other way round. We have not seen a date.
The deadlines are on record. In February, Science and Technology Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley gave the reconstituted task force two outputs: a draft national AI policy within six to nine months, and a draft legislative framework within 12 months. On 2 June he told the House the draft policy is due by November 2026. It will cover eight domains, from innovation and economic growth to ethics, legal frameworks and government-industry collaboration.
The baseline is still missing. UNESCO’s Jamaica AI Readiness Assessment found no official estimate of AI’s contribution to the economy, no registry of AI companies, and no systematic tracking of AI adoption in the public or private sector. It counted 13 AI-related publications by Jamaican researchers between 2019 and 2024 in the OECD.AI database, and put research and development spending at 0.06 percent of GDP in 2021. Jamaica has no standalone AI law and no dedicated AI regulator. The full report is on the Broadcasting Commission site.
What this means. The comment window has not visibly opened, so firms that planned to respond on 11 September have not missed it. The policy will shape how AI is bought, used and checked across government, and later how it is regulated. Banks, BPOs, insurers, health providers, media and marketing firms already use AI on personal data covered by the Data Protection Act. They have the most to lose from rules written without their input.
What to do. If your organisation uses AI on customer or staff data, write a two-page submission now so it is ready when the green paper appears. List what you use AI for, what data it touches and what safeguards you run. Ask for a public baseline: AI-active firms and adoption by sector, AI-related jobs, AI investment, public-sector deployments, and a regular count of AI research. Then track the OPM, JIS and Task Force channels for the green paper and the November draft.
Last fact-checked 9 October 2026.
