Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to you! I hope you are enjoying the AI Summit for Good conversations - including speaking to humanoids, interacting with machines and robots. Amidst these interactions, it is also a time to pause and contemplate how we can create inclusive and open digital ecosystems.
New technologies are quickly pervading every sphere of life. There is an incredible revolution that is happening in front of our eyes. The question is: are we ready for this revolution and are we harnessing the best from it.
As countries grapple with solutions to achieve digital transformation, open source is emerging as a significant contributor to these efforts. Governments and the entire ecosystem are seeking to build capacity in open-source and using Digital Public Goods to help accelerate digital government transformation and ultimately, the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
The combination of open-source and AI can make a powerful base to boost governments in their digital transformation journeys.
Open source is a pivotal technology. In addition, when guided properly, AI represents a tremendous opportunity for societal change. As exemplified in several countries, AI can help governments offer more efficient and personalized public services to their citizens. The teaming of open source with AI, and the digital public goods environment is a huge emerging canvas of possibility on which many ideas can make their mark. It is poised to result into an unprecedented ecosystem.
As you may see from this Summit and the ongoing global conversations, ITU is at the leading edge of AI to further its mission of achieving meaningful universal connectivity, driving sustainable digital transformation.
Together with other partners, ITU is working on more than 200 AI and Machine Learning standards, collaborating with ISO and IEC through the World Standards Cooperation to tackle emerging AI standards in a coordinated process.
Through the AI for Good initiative with 40 UN+ partners and our role in co-chairing the Interagency Working Group on AI with UNESCO, ITU facilitates global multi-stakeholder collaboration and UN System-wide coordination on AI.
Our aim is to help Member States leverage AI to propel the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs - forward. To us, this means facilitating access to the building blocks of modern-day society.
It is the very core of our Open-Source Ecosystem Enabler project, a partnership between ITU, UNDP and the European Commission, to help accelerate the creation of Digital Public Goods and Services across the globe. We target to help countries develop their open-source ecosystem, through the provision of custom-tailored education, training, and technical support.
As we equip Member States with the knowledge and tools needed for AI, we are also conscious to ensure that its benefits are accessible and equitable worldwide.
One imperative that we must therefore all keep in mind as we move forward, is that AI software and the technology that powers it, are expensive. Many governments cannot afford them. While AI may be an agent of change, it can also be a cause to another layer of division, that can deepen the already wide connectivity gap, digital gender gap, rural-urban divide , among other divides.
We can and should channel AI into a positive force.
Open Source AI in Digital Public Services is an approach that can be used to drive this positive change by creating the environment to freely reuse, modify and redistribute the essential prerequisites or building blocks of AI.
This environment must be accompanied by the capability to use this technology. Building local digital skills and capacity on effectively using, developing, and releasing open-source AI is therefore essential.
You will be happy to note that the Telecommunication Development Bureau is playing a catalytic role through the establishment of a dedicated Open Source Programme Offices – to help countries build these skills and capacity.
Building upon this initiative, we also launched the Open Source Ecosystem Enabler (OSEE) which is designed to support governments of mainly developing countries to effectively benefit from open source technologies.
Today, with these pioneering ventures, ITU is a thought leader in supporting the use, development, and release of open-source technologies for public goods and services.
As such we are also the main contributors to the creation of a UN wide open-source framework to boost, harmonize and scale practices throughout UN agencies and Member States.
This workshop will share very concrete Open Source AI Digital Public Service examples from three countries. It is my hope that the discussions here will be an opportunity to identify the areas we should focus on, in our role as capacity-builders and enablers for open-source AI and digital public goods and services.
I thank you.
