Amanda Russo, Public Engagement Lead, World Economic Forum: Tel.: +1 415 734 0589; Amanda.Russo@weforum.org
· Calls for responsible and effective procurement of artificial intelligence to protect citizens
· United Kingdom to work with the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to co-design these new frameworks
· For more information about the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, please visit: http://wef.ch/amnc18
· Follow the conversation using #AMNC18
Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, 20 September 2018 – Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the potential to vastly improve government operations and meet the needs of citizens in new ways, ranging from traffic management to healthcare delivery to processing tax forms. But many public institutions are cautious about harnessing this powerful technology because of concerns over bias, privacy, accountability, transparency and overall complexity.
The World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, today announced it will bring governments, businesses, start-ups and civil society together to co-design guidelines to empower governments to responsibly deploy and design AI technology for the benefit of citizens.
The United Kingdom is the first country to partner with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution on this project. The partnership will involve sending a government secondee to the Centre in San Francisco to create these new guidelines.
“Governments’ significant buying power can drive private-sector adoption of these standards even for products that are sold beyond government,” said Kay Firth-Butterfield, Head of Artificial Intelligence at the World Economic Forum. “The future of AI needs government and businesses to work together. I’m thrilled to have the United Kingdom partner with the Centre on this project."
“The UK has a proud history of stepping up and shaping the international rules and partnerships for new technologies,” said Margot James, Digital Minister, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. “Artificial Intelligence has huge potential benefits and it is right that the public sector is helping to lead the way. Our collaboration with the World Economic Forum on AI will keep the UK at the forefront of this revolutionary technology.”
About the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network
The Centre Network brings together governments, leading companies, civil society and experts from around the world to co-design and pilot innovative approaches to the policy and governance of technology. Its vision is to shape the development and use of technology in ways that maximize the benefits and minimize the risks. The centre will develop, implement and scale agile and human-centred pilot projects that can be adopted by policy-makers, legislators and regulators worldwide.
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