This story was contributed to TechCabal by Conrad Onyango/bird. African governments are ramping up national strategies on the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a fresh hunt for crucial data that would help improve public service delivery and governance. AI is no longer a preserve of the private sector as Africa's public sector hops on a global trend where governments join the hunt for robust data to transform how they deliver services to an increasingly tech-savvy population. Oxford Insights in its'Government AI Readiness Index 2021,' shows governments across the continent are turning to AI to improve their public services and gain strategic economic advantages. More governments, the report says, are building up AI ecosystems-backed by national strategies to capitalize on a 10-year global boom that has seen private sector firms commercialize AI research and development.

OpenAI is committed to developing general-purpose artificial intelligence that benefits all humanity, and we believe that achieving our goal requires expertise in public policy as well as technology. Will served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been a leading voice on technology policy, and coauthored bipartisan legislation outlining a national strategy for artificial intelligence. "Will brings a rare combination of expertise--he deeply understands both artificial intelligence as well as public policy, both of which are critical to a successful future for AI," said Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO. Greg Brockman, OpenAI's chairman and Chief Technology Officer, added, "'AI public policy expert' isn't exactly a common title, and Will is squarely one of the leading ones. "I've been blown away by the scientific advances made by the team at OpenAI, and I've been inspired by their commitment to developing AI responsibly," said Will Hurd. OpenAI is committed to developing general-purpose artificial intelligence that benefits all humanity, and we believe that achieving our goal requires expertise in public policy as well as technology. Will served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been a leading voice on technology policy, and coauthored bipartisan legislation outlining a national strategy for artificial intelligence. "Will brings a rare combination of expertise--he deeply understands both artificial intelligence as well as public policy, both of which are critical to a successful future for AI," said Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO. Greg Brockman, OpenAI's chairman and Chief Technology Officer, added, "'AI public policy expert' isn't exactly a common title, and Will is squarely one of the leading ones.

The AI Council recognized that its roadmap of sixteen recommendations which is regarding the skills, data, infrastructure, adoption, R&D, infrastructure, diversity, public, investment and trust, would need to be revealed out over time and thus, it encouraged the UK government to produce a National AI strategy. In its media, the National AI Strategy, has a plan for ten-year to make the UK a global AI superpower building on R&D success in the field as well as a previous AI Sector Deal investment and establishment of AI bodies and structures. The Strategy revealed some of the specific goals for the UK to experience major growth in AI discoveries made, commercialized and exploited in the UK, productivity growth and associated economic and to established a trusted and pro-innovation AI governance system. Moreover, the strategy mirrors other recent publications, highlighting the UK government's desire to offer a pro-innovation environment with a business-friendly regulatory framework, whilst protecting the public and basic primary values. The Strategy differentiates AI from some other innovative technology or digital policy, which calls out features that the UK government considers requiring a unique policy response.

NHSX has laid out its vision, approach and areas of focus for developing a new National Strategy for AI in Health and Social Care. The NHS AI Lab is currently working on a plan that will outline its ambitions for the'development, implementation, scaling and monitoring of AI-driven technologies' in the UK. The organisation has created a draft strategy to support the ultimate goal of deploying AI at scale, in an'effective' and'ethical' way. According to NHSX, its research will consist of three phases: research to understand the current digital health landscape; discussions with those who will use or feel the impact of the new technologies; and looking into possible'futures' for AI. A team of stakeholders, a selection of people involved in the development and deployment of AI in health, as well as potential users of the technologies, have formed a working group to help guide the development of the strategy.

The U.K. government has announced a national AI strategy -- its first dedicated package aimed at boosting the country's capabilities in and around machine learning technologies over the longer term. It says it hopes the strategy will lead to an increase in the number and types of AIs being developed and commercialized in the U.K. over the next 10 years. The plan to prioritize and "level up" development and applications of artificial intelligence follows earlier industrial and digital strategies -- which talked up the promise of AI. But Boris Johnson's government is now inching onward, announcing a 10-year plan to invest in making Britain "a global AI superpower", as the government's PR puts it -- by targeting support at areas like upskilling and reskilling in the hopes of reaping AI-driven economic rewards down the line. Whether there's much of policy substance here, as yet, looks debatable.

Many governments are increasingly approaching artificial intelligence with an almost religious zeal. By 2018 at least 22 countries around the world, and also the EU, had launched grand national strategies for making AI part of their business development, while many more had announced ethical frameworks for how it should be allowed to develop. The latest is Ireland, which has just announced its national artificial intelligence strategy, "AI – Here for Good". It aims to become "an international leader in using AI to benefit our economy and society, through a people-centred, ethical approach to its development, adoption and use". This is to be obtained via eight policy commandments, including increasing trust in and understanding of AI by using an "AI ambassador" – a veritable AI high priest – to spread the message around the country.

Many governments are increasingly approaching artificial intelligence with an almost religious zeal. By 2018 at least 22 countries around the world, and also the EU, had launched grand national strategies for making AI part of their business development, while many more had announced ethical frameworks for how it should be allowed to develop. The latest is Ireland, which has just announced its national AI strategy, "AI – Here for Good". It aims to become "an international leader in using AI to benefit our economy and society, through a people-centred, ethical approach to its development, adoption and use". This is to be obtained via eight policy commandments, including increasing trust in and understanding of AI by using an "AI ambassador" - a veritable AI high priest – to spread the message around the country. Another aspect is to promote AI adoption by Irish businesses and the government within a special moral and ethical framework.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new terrain of contestation in international relations, wrapped in uncertainty about loss of technological control and human oversight. 'Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world', Russian President Vladimir Putin famously stated in 2017 (RT, 2017). Since then, a plethora of public and private actors have issued statements on how AI would change society for the better or for the worse, highlighting infrastructural developments, military applications and impact on jobs and human relations. Some of these statements revealed concrete plans to address AI-related challenges, but the majority remained principled positions on limiting risks associated with disruptive technologies (Ulnicane et al., 2020, Jobin et al., 2019). As recognition grows that tools based on algorithmic processing and machine learning bring about as many promises as commotions, governments are under increased pressure to react for the wellbeing of their citizens and for their raison d'être (Taeihagh, 2021).

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. A lot of corporate research effort goes into artificial intelligence and machine learning. But do the top tech companies' investments coincide with national priorities for competitiveness and scientific leadership? That's what Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology set out to discover. Research fellow Tim Hwang joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the findings.

Despite the a wave of national strategies on artificial intelligence that has washed over the world, none have yet proposed or published specific ethical or legal frameworks for artificial intelligence. Over the past several years, a wave of national strategies on artificial intelligence (AI) has washed over the world, with many jurisdictions introducing policies for its regulation. With the exception of the European Union (EU), none have yet proposed or published specific ethical or legal frameworks for AI. Canada led the way, announcing national AI policies in 2017, and has since been followed by many other jurisdictions. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) AI Policy Observatory early last year released a continuously updated database of over 600 AI policy initiatives from 60 countries, territories, and the EU. Of course, not all are the same, but some are noteworthy.