Building Information for All in Africa: Artificial Intelligence for inclusion and human-centered digital futures

UNESCO Information for All Programme’s (IFAP) Working Groups on Information Accessibility and Information Ethics, jointly with the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, will co-organize a roundtable on Artificial Intelligence for inclusion and human-centered digital futures.

The roundtable aims to engage with global stakeholders, African governments, and academia at ICEGOV, as well as with African leaders to spark policy discussions on promoting inclusive and ethical digital governance. The goal is to build human-centered digital ecosystems that are accessible to all.

The roundtable is expected to advance the implementation of the landmark Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which underscores Africa’s commitment to an Africa-centric, development-focused approach to AI, promoting ethical, responsible, and equitable practices.

The roundtable will build on the insights into the implications of AI, including its risks and opportunities, derived from the IFAP Working Group on Information Accessibility and its 5th Annual AI4IA conference 2024 (28 September), in celebration of the International Day of Universal Access to information (IDUAI). The discussions will also reflect on the IFAP Working Group on Information Ethics deliberations during its Seminar on AI and social inclusivity, focusing on AI as a tool to foster digital inclusion.

The roundtable will address cross-cutting issues related to promoting accessibility through AI. It seeks to ensure the inclusion and participation of groups left behind, including women, girls, and persons with disabilities, by advocating for the ethical development and human-centered governance of AI. Central to IFAP's mission is the commitment to integrating inclusive, equitable, and sustainable knowledge societies into national development plans. This includes promoting measurement frameworks designed to identify and address digital disparities both within and across nations and communities.

The roundtable also serves as a platform to catalyze partnerships and facilitate dynamic exchanges among IFAP Working Groups experts and a diverse array of stakeholders of Dynamic Coalition Measuring Digital Inclusion. The aim is to foster synergies and actions to tackle the complex challenges at the intersection of AI accessibility and digital inclusion.

The roundtable has two primary objectives:

• Share global perspectives on frontier digital technologies, particularly AI’s impact on advancing digital inclusion, combating gender divides and supporting human-centered digital development. This will contribute to developing an IFAP policy brief to sensitize Member States and Stakeholders on these critical issues.
• Mobilize African stakeholders to join the Dynamic Coalition, discuss strategies, actions, work plans, and synergies to foster multi-stakeholder dialogues that promote women and girls’ digital participation, and shape inclusive and ethical AI governance, regulation and policies in Africa.

Objectives for the participants

• Share visions on global challenges and opportunities posed by frontier digital technologies and exchange key achievements, findings, recommendations, best practices of Africa and other regions on promoting evidence based approach to strengthen digital inclusion and gender equality.
• Present IFAP Strategic Plan 2023-2029 and sensitize governments and communities about the value of information to underpin development policies, particularly to advance towards inclusive, equitable and sustainable Knowledge Societies.
• Deliver the key messages and outcomes from Information Accessibility and its annual AI for Accessibility (AI4IA) Conference 2024 and create synergies with ICEGOV stakeholders.
• Encourage ICGOV stakeholders to join Dynamic Coalition on Trigger discussion on the future actions of of the Coalition for advancing digital inclusion in Africa and worldwide.