{
  "abstract": "Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognized as a determinant of national productivity and competitiveness, yet the conditions required for its beneficial adoption, infrastructure, institutions, and human capital, remain unevenly distributed across the globe. Somalia, a fragile and conflict-affected state undergoing a prolonged process of institutional reconstruction, exemplifies this unevenness: a young, digitally engaged population and a strikingly dynamic private telecommunications and mobile-money sector coexist with weak public institutions, fragmented higher education, and chronic graduate unemployment.\n\nMethods: This paper reports a systematic literature review with theory-informed framework development, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 reporting guideline, that synthesizes peer-reviewed evidence on organizational and national AI readiness, digital-skills development, and workforce productivity, with a specific focus on Somalia and comparable fragile, low-connectivity, Sub-Saharan African contexts. Using the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework and human capital theory as complementary lenses, the review synthesizes findings from 31 sources identified through a structured search and screening process.\n\nResults: The evidence indicates that Somalia’s AI readiness gap is not primarily a technological deficit but a multidimensional one, spanning fragmented digital infrastructure, weak institutional governance and data ecosystems, a persistent mismatch between higher-education curricula and labour-market needs, and the absence of coordinated national AI or digital-skills policy.\n\nConclusion: Building on these findings, the paper proposes a four-pillar conceptual AI readiness framework intended to guide future empirical assessment and policy discussion, encompassing digital infrastructure and access, institutional and governance readiness, human capital and skills development, and labour-market integration, together with a phased implementation roadmap for government, higher-education institutions, the private telecommunications sector, and development partners. The review provides a literature-grounded, context-specific synthesis of AI readiness for a fragile Horn of Africa state and offers a transferable analytical approach for similar settings.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Computer Science, Somali National University , ,",
    "Dugsiiye , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "systematic review",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ayan Mohamed Jama"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Nashad Farah Mohamud"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Mohamud Osman Hamud"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Abdullahi Mohamud Hassan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Abukar Sheikh Mohamed"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7bns96f0yk6vq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/frai.2026.1928521",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13719570/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "7bns96f0yk6vq",
  "issns": [
    "2624-8212"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719570",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Systematic Review"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2214|ICT Impact and Policies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222502127",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13719570/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13719570",
  "pmid": "42964340",
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7bns96f0yk6vq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:36Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13719570",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13719570"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T12:23:30Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13719570",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2026.1928521"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "Artificial intelligence readiness in fragile states: a systematic review and theory-informed framework for workforce transformation in Somalia",
  "title_text": "Artificial intelligence readiness in fragile states: a systematic review and theory-informed framework for workforce transformation in Somalia",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:20:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7bns96f0yk6vq",
  "venue": "Frontiers in artificial intelligence",
  "versions": []
}