Bulgaria - National AI Strategy

Overview

The "Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Bulgaria until 2030" (AI‑BG Concept) is Bulgaria’s strategic framework for the period 2020–2030. Adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16 December 2020, the Concept was prepared with substantive input from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and national experts and finalised by the Ministry responsible for ICT. It sets a national vision to harness AI for economic growth, public service improvement and societal wellbeing while reducing risks and protecting rights. The published full text is available as an official government PDF: Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Bulgaria until 2030 (official PDF). The Concept aligns with EU priorities for trustworthy AI and references EU policy documents and programmes as principal touchstones for national implementation.

Definitions

The Concept adopts the European framing of AI as systems combining data, algorithms and computing power to act towards complex goals in physical or digital environments. It describes AI systems as software (and possibly hardware) capable of perceiving environments via data acquisition, interpreting structured and unstructured data, reasoning and selecting actions. For practical purposes, the Concept defines AI broadly to include symbolic systems, machine learning models and hybrid approaches, emphasising the combination of data, algorithms and computing resources as the working definition.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The Concept proposes a multi‑level governance architecture to coordinate national AI policy. It recommends establishing an Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) composed of representatives of central ministries, regional administrations, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, higher‑education institutions, industry associations and civil society. The IWG’s role is to prepare an operational National Action Plan/Roadmap with specific measures, responsibilities and KPIs. Initially prepared under the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, the coordination role has since been moved to the Ministry of Electronic Governance; institutional responsibility for specific actions is distributed across sectoral ministries (e.g., Health, Education, Agriculture, Finance). The Concept also envisages thematic working groups, public consultation mechanisms and stakeholder engagement to ensure inclusiveness and accountability. For the official downloadable Concept see the MTITC PDF.

Key Focus Areas

The Concept is structured around six core pillars: (1) communications and scientific infrastructure (HPC, cloud and networks) to enable computationally intensive research and AI services; (2) education and lifelong learning to expand AI skills across all levels—early education, vocational training, university curricula, PhD programmes and re‑skilling; (3) research capacity and technology transfer to support centres of excellence and industry‑academia collaboration; (4) data governance and infrastructure—creation of data spaces, open data policies and secure data sharing mechanisms; (5) sectoral uptake—targeted programmes to apply AI in priority sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, transport, environment and public administration; and (6) trust, ethics and regulation—developing legal and ethical frameworks aligned with the EU’s approach to reliable AI. The Concept lists concrete measures such as funding streams, establishment of research institutes, building an education and AI platform, and piloting AI use cases in public services.

Implementation Framework

Implementation is to proceed via a National Action Plan / Roadmap prepared by the Interdepartmental Working Group that specifies measures, deadlines, responsible institutions, expected outputs and monitoring indicators. Financing sources are identified as the national budget, EU Structural and Investment Funds, Horizon 2020 / Horizon Europe and Digital Europe programmes, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Concept recommends setting up or strengthening national research institutions and laboratories, creating shared computing infrastructure, and promoting public‑private partnerships. Implementation responsibilities are to be allocated across ministries (education, health, agriculture, transport, finance), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and industry partners, with regional administrations involved in rollout and capacity building.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Concept requires a monitoring and reporting structure as part of the national roadmap. The Interdepartmental Working Group should establish clear KPIs, periodic reporting cycles and evaluation methodologies to assess progress on infrastructure deployment, research outputs, skills supplied, adoption rates in priority sectors and measures to build public trust. Monitoring should include both quantitative indicators (number of specialists trained, HPC capacity, funding disbursed) and qualitative reviews (stakeholder consultations, ethical impact assessments). The Concept invites independent reviews and recommends alignment with European monitoring frameworks such as DESI and relevant EU AI observatories.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

As a strategic policy document (not primary legislation), the Concept itself does not prescribe novel administrative penalties. Instead, it proposes development of an ethical and regulatory framework consistent with EU standards and existing Bulgarian law (e.g., data protection and sectoral regulation). Liability, redress and enforcement are expected to be addressed in subsequent legal and regulatory instruments; until then, applicable legal remedies arise under existing laws (notably GDPR for personal data matters and sectoral safety/regulatory regimes). The Concept explicitly recommends preparing legal proposals and regulatory assessments to define liability regimes and enforcement paths for AI applications in high‑impact sectors.

Relationship to Other Instruments

The AI‑BG Concept is designed to operate within Bulgaria’s broader policy ecosystem. It references the national strategic document "Digital Transformation of Bulgaria for the period 2020–2030" and the National Program "Digital Bulgaria 2025" as higher‑level and complementary strategic documents (see Digital Transformation of Bulgaria 2020–2030 (official PDF)). The Concept also positions Bulgarian AI policy in relation to EU instruments (the EU White Paper and subsequent AI policy initiatives) and international best practice. It is intended to be operationalised through sectoral plans and national research and education programming.

International Alignment

The Concept explicitly aligns Bulgarian AI policy with EU priorities for "trustworthy AI" and the EU’s digital programmes (Digital Europe, Horizon). It references EU ethical guidelines and the Commission’s documents and commits to implementing a national approach consistent with forthcoming EU regulatory measures. International cooperation—through Horizon programmes, research partnerships and participation in European AI networks—is presented as a funding and capability pathway. External analyses and reviews (e.g., EU AI Watch and OECD country notes) have since documented the Concept as Bulgaria’s primary AI policy reference point; see the AI Watch country report: Bulgaria AI Strategy Report (AI Watch) and an OECD country note referring to the Concept: OECD — Progress on EU Coordinated Plan on AI (Bulgaria).

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References