World Bank GovTech AI Bootcamp 2026 for Public Officials

The GovTech AI Bootcamp is a World Bank training programme for people who run government services rather than for researchers. It brings public administration teams together to work through how artificial intelligence is actually deployed inside government, and it is hosted in South Korea.

Who can apply

Participation is open to teams from developing countries working in public policy and governance. No specific academic level is required, which is deliberate: the programme is aimed at practitioners, and a mid-career official responsible for a service is exactly the intended participant. Teams apply together rather than as individuals, and two members per selected team are funded.

What is covered

International travel and accommodation costs for the two selected team members are covered by the programme. Sessions run in English with interpretation support, so working proficiency rather than a formal test score is what matters in practice. Note the shape of the funding: it pays to get a team into the room, not a stipend or salary replacement, so an employer still has to release the participants for the week.

Deadline and timing

Applications opened in August, and the application deadline is October 2, 2026. The bootcamp itself runs later in the year, so a selected team has time between the decision and travel to arrange leave and visas, but not a great deal of it. Treat the visa question as part of the application rather than as an afterthought.

Before you apply

Decide who the two travelling members will be before writing, because the application is stronger when it names the people who will carry the work back into the institution. A concrete service or reform the team is already responsible for gives the proposal something real to attach to.