Jordan has signed a US$4.2 million grant agreement with the World Bank to develop artificial-intelligence tools for government services and to prepare for extending its Sanad digital identity platform to businesses, according to Biometric Update on 5 November, which attributes the signing details to Jordan News. The agreement is dated 31 October and was signed by Planning Minister Zeina Toukan and the World Bank’s regional director, Dalia Khalifa, the report says.
The money comes under the Jordan Youth, Technology and Jobs Project. Biometric Update says it will pay for building and testing AI applications for government use, including multi-task tools and AI features within Sanad; a phased expansion of Sanad to business users; and support for a planned National Center of Excellence in AI, as well as outreach to foreign technology firms.
Sanad, Jordan’s national digital ID app, passed three million activated identities in summer 2026, the report says, citing a government release. Jordan’s Civil Status Law was amended earlier this year to recognise digital identities, and the site notes that Sanad uses iris recognition from IrisGuard to activate accounts. Biometric Update’s separate coverage records that lawmakers made digital ID mandatory for access to public services in April.
Reporting note: This relies on one trade outlet’s account, itself drawing on Jordan News and a government release; the figures are not independently confirmed, and a second outlet gives slightly different user numbers for earlier months. The photograph shows Amman and is for illustration only.
Photo: Ankur Panchbudhe / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
