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Artificial Intelligence Readiness: Mind the gap

lobal ranking of countries in AI readiness released; Singapore leads among

Asian countries; Japan and India among top 20

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness Index released by

the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Oxford Insights launches has several Asian countries including Singapore, Japan and India among the first 20 in the world. The ranking examines 194 countries worldwide, assessing their governance, infrastructure and data, skills and education, and government and public services to measure how well these countries are prepared to manage the potentially transformative impacts of AI.

Including countries from the Global South in its analysis for the first time, the 2019 Government AI Readiness Index shows that governments in the Global North are still better positioned to reap the benefits of AI than their Southern counterparts. In fact, the ranking is dominated by countries with strong economies, robust data infrastructure and strong systems of governance.

“Given that we are on the cusp of seeing widespread AI implementation across a number of sectors, it is important that governments take notice of the findings to ensure that these inequalities do not become further entrenched as we enter the fourth industrial revolution”, says Richard Stirling, co-founder and CEO ofOxford Insights.

The differences in AI readiness between governments may increase the risk that certain countries could become testing grounds. Furthermore, AI could magnify existing inequality if the unique context of each region is not considered. To close the potential to widen global inequalities, there is a need for more equal implementation.

“IDRC is looking to support collaborative approaches with researchers, enterprises, policymakers, and civil societies to close this gap and advance effective and responsible development of AI for a more inclusive and sustainable world”, said Fernando Perini, Senior Program Officer at IDRC.

Asian scenario

This edition of the Government AI Readiness Index covers 54 governments across the Asia-Pacific region. Two countries in the Asia-Pacific region are among the top ten globally for government AI readiness: Singapore (first globally) and Japan (second in Asia-Pacific and tenth globally). But the Asia-Pacific region also has two countries in the bottom ten globally: North Korea (last in Asia-Pacific and 193rd out of 194 globally), and the small Pacific island state of Micronesia (second last in Asia-Pacific and 186th out of 194 globally). This is indicative of the uneven progress in government readiness and adoption of AI across the Asia-Pacific region. However, many governments in the region are working to develop national plans for accelerating AI adoption.

Lessons from the Asia-Pacific context

The report says: We should expect that China, while only placing sixth in Asia-Pacific and 21st globally in the current rankings, will rise in next year’s rankings. The central government has placed a strong focus on investing in AI capabilities. While China may lag behind in fundamental research (i.e. pure scientific Rankresearch, with not immediately applicable findings), it is catching up fast. For adoption and utilisation of AI in the current context, China’s advantage lies in its abundance of data (and loose privacy laws), and its ever-increasing numbers of AI engineers, along with a strong and vibrant startup ecosystem. The abundance of data, in particular, will give China a clear competitive advantage for its AI industries that other countries will struggle to overcome.

Singapore is taking a different approach from China’s, and is paying heed to managing community concerns around AI. It is one of the few governments that has created an AI Ethics Advisory Council as part of its AI   strategy, to “assist the Government to develop ethics standards and reference governance frameworks, issue advisory guidelines, practical guidance and codes of practice for voluntary adoption by businesses”. While not necessarily going to the same lengths as Singapore, most other governments with AI strategies are also employing the language of ethics to foster the responsible use of AI. Singapore’s lead in grappling with issues of explainable, transparent, and fair algorithms, as well as in practically incorporating considerations for competition, privacy, and ethics into its policy and regulatory frameworks, will be a useful resource for other governments as they formulate their own AI strategies.

About Oxford Insights

Oxford Insights advises organizations on strategic, cultural and leadership opportunities arising from digital transformation. It undertook this research in order to discover how governments can increase their impact by harnessing the best in technology and AI, examining what stage of readiness each country is currently at.

About IDRC

Part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the developing world. Bringing together the right partners around opportunities for impact, IDRC builds leaders for today and tomorrow and helps drive change for those who need it most.

To access the full report, please visit: https://ai4d.ai/index2019/

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