Session
Theatre
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The Open Forum will use a lightning talk format with 5 minute inputs from speakers, over 3 rounds – one each on the dimensions of local AI for the first 35 minutes, followed by 25 minutes of open discussion. The speaker composition is attentive to gender and stakeholder diversity criteria, as outlined in the session description below.
As the Global Digital Compact underscores, there is an urgent imperative for digital cooperation that harnesses the power of AI innovation for the benefit of humanity. Evidence increasingly points to the importance of contextually-grounded AI innovation for a just and sustainable digital transition.
Local AI, at its heart, refers to AI innovation choices that enable public accountability, with particular focus on techno-design that prioritizes 3 dimensions: - inclusivity, indigenity and intentionality.
The dimension of inclusivity is about pathways that build pluralistic knowledge societies, where the public value of data and intelligence dividends is equitably distributed. Inclusivity is about encouraging the development of decentralized digital economies that overturn extractivist and neo-colonial dynamics.
The dimension of indigeneity refers to infrastructural building blocks for accountable, generative and democratic economies – data stewardship and AI models that reflect contextually-grounded innovation norms and ethics. The localisation of global AI foundation models may not be sufficient for a new grammar of robust AI localism.
The dimension of intentionality is the steering provided to direct structural forces to shape AI ecosystems for the common good – including, market regulation and incentive structures, public governance for social value of innovation, etc.
12.00 to 12.05 pm
Framing remarks and introduction to the session:
Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change
12.05 to 12.15 pm
Round 1. Inclusion: What are the pathways to AI innovation that are truly inclusive? How can local communities be real beneficiaries of AI?
● Jackie Si Tou, UN Trade and Development (remote)
● Linet Kwamboka, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
12.15 to 12.25 pm
Round 2. Indigeneity: What radical shifts do we need in AI infrastructures for an economy and society attentive and accountable to the people?
● Amb. Arindam Bagchi, Government of India (TBC)
● Sarah Nicole, Project Liberty Institute
12.25 pm to 12.35 pm
Round 3. Intentionality: How should AI innovation pathways be steered for the common good?
● Amb. Thomas Schneider, Government of Switzerland
● Nandini Chami, IT for Change
12.35 pm to 1.00 pm
Open discussion (moderated by Valeria Betancourt)
Wai Kit Si Tou, UNCTAD, Global organization
Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change, Civil society, Asia-Pacific
Valeria Betancourt, Association for Progressive Communications, Civil Society, LATAM
Speaker 1: Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change
Speaker 2: Jackie Si Tou, UN Trade and Development (remote)
Speaker 3: Linet Kwamboka, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
Speaker 4: Mr. Abhishek Singh, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology and CEO, India AI Mission
Speaker 5: Sarah Nicole, Project Liberty Institute
Speaker 6: Amb. Thomas Schneider, Government of Switzerland
Nandini Chami, IT for Change
10.2
13.2
17.6
17.7
Targets: The session focuses on addressing global digital inequality through local AI policy pathways that work for people and planet. The central issues of the session include sustainable AI transition and international cooperation for macroeconomic global economic governance frameworks that further equitable AI development.