Rwanda to Host the 2025 ISO Annual Meeting—Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence Standards

Rwanda has confirmed it will welcome the global standards community this year, hosting the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Annual Meeting from 6–10 October 2025 in Kigali. The gathering will be only the second time in ISO’s history that its flagship event is held on the African continent; the first was in Cape Town in 2019.

“Rwanda is ready,” said Dr Raymond Murenzi, Director General of the Rwanda Standards Board (RSB). “We expect more than 170 national standards bodies alongside government agencies, private‑sector leaders and technical experts from around the world. Together, they will examine how standards accelerate industrial development and help tackle global challenges.”

Standards quietly underpin everyday life: they ensure products are safe, technologies are compatible and trade flows smoothly. As the digital economy expands, so does the urgency of setting globally accepted rules for emerging technologies—especially artificial intelligence (AI). “Quality standards are crucial for making sure new technologies reach markets and can ‘talk’ to each other,” Dr Murenzi explained. “A device developed in Rwanda must communicate seamlessly with one built in America or Asia.”

A key topic in Kigali will be ISO/IEC’s work on AI terminology and concepts. Establishing a shared “dictionary” is the first step, he noted: “The words we use—what they mean in every language and jurisdiction—must be identical. Without that, real interoperability is impossible.” Delegates will also address compatibility, safety, ethics and capacity‑building for developing countries, ensuring that innovations from nations like Rwanda integrate smoothly with advanced systems elsewhere.

Rwanda has invested heavily in digital skills, university research and innovation hubs, including its Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. RSB has already formed national technical committees on AI, drawing specialists from academia, industry and government. “Our goal is not just to adopt standards drafted elsewhere,” Dr Murenzi stressed. “We want Rwanda’s voice—and Africa’s voice—in the room when those standards are shaped.”

More than 1,000 international delegates are expected in Kigali, bringing opportunities to showcase local innovations, forge partnerships and train Rwandan professionals through side‑events and technical workshops. “We are ready to give and to receive,” Dr Murenzi said. “We will learn from institutions that have been refining quality standards for over a century, and we will share our own experience adapting standards to a fast‑growing, developing‑world context.”

As October approaches, RSB and its partners—including the Ministry of ICT and Innovation—are finalizing logistics and an ambitious conference agenda. With Kigali positioning itself as a regional tech hub, hosting ISO’s Annual Meeting signals both recognition of Rwanda’s progress and a springboard for deeper engagement in the governance of next‑generation technologies.