In 2015, Guyana was recategorized as a middle-income country. With new industries, came enhanced needs for technological evolution in a country that has lagged behind the region in ICT development. In order to maintain its trajectory as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Guyana began moves to revolutionise the country’s technology in order to encourage innovative solutions to addressing pressing social, cultural, environmental and economic issues. One of the areas earmarked for technological evolution was social order.
In 2022, the Government of Guyana indicated that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) would soon be utilizing smart technology such as facial recognition to fight crime. The planned use of this technology is aimed at enhancing forensic investigative capacity. While it can serve this purpose, facial recognition technology is a form of surveillance that will provide additional power to the GPF to monitor, track, and easily identify citizens. We should be cautious about it as it can increase police power over citizens, further impacting the democratic rights of historically marginalized populations in Guyana.