INNOVATION and National Development Minister Sebastian Bastian has called for small island states to be included from the outset in global artificial intelligence and disaster-resilience initiatives, warning that access to rapidly advancing technology will mean little without the capacity to use and sustain it.

Mr Bastian made the case in New York on Monday during two high-level discussions held alongside the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where he represented The Bahamas in talks on artificial intelligence, disaster resilience and development financing.

He was the sole Member State representative on the United Nations Digital Cooperation Day panel, Technology at the Frontlines of Disaster Resilience, joining representatives from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Google DeepMind and GSMA, among others.

Drawing on The Bahamas’ vulnerability to hurricanes, Mr Bastian argued that emerging technologies should be judged by whether they help countries protect people, make better decisions and recover more quickly after disasters.

“The question for us is not whether the technology exists,” Mr Bastian said. “It is whether small states can access it, build the local capacity to apply it to our own realities, and rely on it when our people need it most.”

He said small island developing states should be involved in the design of global AI and resilience initiatives rather than being included only after solutions have already been developed.

Mr Bastian called for advances in forecasting, satellite imagery, risk mapping and early-warning systems to become more accessible to small states, with countries also given the capacity to deploy and maintain them over time.

He also advocated stronger regional cooperation that would allow Caribbean countries to pool technical expertise and resources while retaining national control over critical decisions and accountability.

Mr Bastian separately represented The Bahamas at the IDB Group Presidential Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence, a closed-door discussion involving leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean and the technology sector.

There, he pressed for development financing to focus not only on adopting technology but also on building the skills needed for people in developing countries to adapt and create it.

“We have spent significant resources helping countries adopt technology,” Mr Bastian said. “We now have to be equally ambitious about building the people who can shape what comes next.”

He said greater development funding should be directed towards skills and capacity building so citizens of small and developing states can participate in the digital economy as creators and innovators rather than primarily as consumers of technology developed elsewhere.

“For countries like The Bahamas, success cannot simply mean using the technology,” Mr Bastian said. “It has to mean developing Bahamians with the skills to adapt it, build with it and create solutions of their own.”

The minister said the engagements were intended to help move The Bahamas’ participation at UNGA beyond discussion towards partnerships, technical expertise, investment and knowledge transfer.

He said the country was building on relationships developed during the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance earlier this year and wanted to accelerate work already underway in digital government, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and future skills.

Mr Bastian also said he would use the week to press for the interests of small island developing states to be considered as global approaches to AI and digital governance take shape.

He is part of the Bahamian delegation led by Prime Minister Philip Davis, whose UNGA programme includes bilateral diplomacy, climate action, small-state advocacy, technology, artificial intelligence, national security, investment and development.

Prime Minister Davis is scheduled to deliver The Bahamas’ national statement to the General Assembly on Friday.