A COLLECTIVE AND INCLUSIVE VOICE FOR RESPONSIBLE AND OPEN AI: The Africa-Asia AI Policymaker Network

International cooperation and joint understanding are crucial ingredients to tackle AI bias and build thriving and responsible AI ecosystems. From 12 to 15 June, policymakers from Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Telangana State in India and Uganda convened in Rwanda to show how this can be achieved.

These policymakers are part of the unique Africa-Asia AI Policymaker Network: It is a platform for the collective, cross-country and continental exchange of Africa-Asia government officials on policy frameworks and strategies to develop responsible and locally relevant AI applications – a network that is much needed in a global AI discourse where diverse regional perspectives are still not fully represented.

From 13 to 14 June, the policymakers attended the inaugural AfricAI Conference, together with over 250 AI researchers, practitioners, and civil society representatives from 27 countries. During the conference, participants discussed, from a multi-sectoral perspective, a diverse range of topics: How can we develop contextual ethical AI policies? How can we advance responsible and open AI in Agriculture in Africa? Or how can we leverage inclusive and open language data for sustainable development? Their participation was geared at gaining insights from and connecting with the practical and operational side of AI.

Norrsken House Kigali, the hub for entrepreneurship in Rwanda, also hosted the policymakers during this time, who conducted a site visit to get first-hand experience of the start-up ecosystem on-site.

15 June was set aside exclusively for the policymakers to discuss regional and specific AI matters and build relations. The network shared its diverse AI policy experiences from drafting National AI and Data Strategies or Procurement Guidelines, implementing an AI Chatbot for Data Protection or establishing a national AI Institute.

Through sharing valuable insights and drawing from real-world examples, the government officials collectively discussed AI strategies and ethical AI regulatory frameworks, considering the diverse social, and economic regional contexts of each country represented. They shared their challenges and barriers with each process and identified potentials for collaboration – a shared value creation initiative for the policymakers and FAIR Forward.

In the upcoming months, the network will build on the insights gained from this year’s in person event, which will inform its upcoming activities and sustain the network as peer-learning exchange forum.

The Africa-Asia AI Policymaker Network launched in March 2022, following a fourmonth Peer Learning and Capacity Building Programme on Artificial Intelligence led by the Human Sciences Research Council to aid their AI journey of creating responsible and open AI ecosystems, through effective policymaking and governance structures.

The event and network is supported by “FAIR Forward – Artificial Intelligence for All”, a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).