Session
Organizer 1: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 3: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 3: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 1: Urvashi Aneja, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Philipp Olbrich, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Leo Mutuku, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Maxmillian Gahntz, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Rachel Adams, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Philipp Olbrich, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Leo Mutuku, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Maxmillian Gahntz, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Rachel Adams, Civil Society, African Group
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: Following brief opening remarks from the moderator, the session will commence with 6-7 minute presentations from 4 speakers. This will be followed by a moderated discussion of 40 minutes. The last 10 minutes of the debate will be used to identify policy pathways and next steps for the participating group. With this format in mind, a roundtable discussion of 90 minutes would be best suited for our activity as it would allow speakers to provide concrete examples of best practices and lessons learned as well as interactive dialogue between all participants.
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: Following brief opening remarks from the moderator, the session will commence with 6-7 minute presentations from 4 speakers. This will be followed by a moderated discussion of 40 minutes. The last 10 minutes of the debate will be used to identify policy pathways and next steps for the participating group. With this format in mind, a roundtable discussion of 90 minutes would be best suited for our activity as it would allow speakers to provide concrete examples of best practices and lessons learned as well as interactive dialogue between all participants.
Policy Question(s)
A. How can open-source AI projects democratise AI innovation and ensure equitable access to AI-driven solutions in developing countries?
B. What are the key trade-offs for policymakers, developers, and civil society when developing or using open-source AI for sustainable development?
C. What policies and regulatory frameworks are needed to address emergent challenges? What capacities, resources, and institutions are required in order to support and scale emergent best practices to ensure that open-source AI development supports individual and community rights?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will gain a more nuanced understanding of the trade-offs inherent in open-source AI development and use for advancing the SDGs in the Global South.. It will also help participants understand how global actions and frameworks shape possibilities for local innovation.
Participants will get concrete examples of best practices to address emerging challenges around open-source AI. This will help them identify actionable insights and advocate open AI practices within their contexts. This includes strategies for effective data governance, open-source adoption and maintenance, support for community innovation and participation and policy recommendations to guide governments and organisations in creating inclusive and sustainable technological ecosystems.
Participants will also hear a variety of viewpoints from experts in academia, industry, and civil society, as well as from different geographies. This will help understand how various stakeholders approach the balance between open and closed AI and how this debate differs across local contexts.
SDGs
Description:
In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI technologies, the past year has witnessed significant advancements in open-source AI. This presents both opportunities and challenges for sustainable and responsible innovation in the global south. Open-source AI models have enabled a broader ecosystem of actors to develop innovative solutions for localised problems in sectors such as healthcare and agriculture in the Global South. At the same time, however, using global open-source AI models has also raised new challenges and risks across local contexts, from affordability and sustainability to unfair data capture and privacy and security risks. This workshop will explore innovative approaches and best practices that leverage open-source AI to catalyse local AI innovation and address emergent challenges. The workshop will bring together leading experts from key geographies across the Global North and South to share case studies of successful and failed initiatives on how open-source models, data sets, and code can democratise local AI development. The experts will also elucidate how emergent challenges such as data governance, privacy, transparency and accountability, and safety can be addressed. It will highlight the interplay between global and local actions and the unique considerations that arise from deploying AI interventions in critical social sectors in the Global South. Through this, the workshop will distill key recommendations for policymakers and developers to harness open-source AI for sustainable development and address emergent challenges and risks. The workshop will include global perspectives from academia, industry, civil society, and government to enrich the dialogue. This inclusive approach will stimulate critical thinking and foster collaborative solutions to the trade-offs of open-source AI development, such as intellectual property rights, liability, unequal power dynamics, and trust and safety.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI technologies, the past year has witnessed significant advancements in open-source AI. This presents both opportunities and challenges for sustainable and responsible innovation in the global south. Open-source AI models have enabled a broader ecosystem of actors to develop innovative solutions for localised problems in sectors such as healthcare and agriculture in the Global South. At the same time, however, using global open-source AI models has also raised new challenges and risks across local contexts, from affordability and sustainability to unfair data capture and privacy and security risks. This workshop will explore innovative approaches and best practices that leverage open-source AI to catalyse local AI innovation and address emergent challenges. The workshop will bring together leading experts from key geographies across the Global North and South to share case studies of successful and failed initiatives on how open-source models, data sets, and code can democratise local AI development. The experts will also elucidate how emergent challenges such as data governance, privacy, transparency and accountability, and safety can be addressed. It will highlight the interplay between global and local actions and the unique considerations that arise from deploying AI interventions in critical social sectors in the Global South. Through this, the workshop will distill key recommendations for policymakers and developers to harness open-source AI for sustainable development and address emergent challenges and risks. The workshop will include global perspectives from academia, industry, civil society, and government to enrich the dialogue. This inclusive approach will stimulate critical thinking and foster collaborative solutions to the trade-offs of open-source AI development, such as intellectual property rights, liability, unequal power dynamics, and trust and safety.
Expected Outcomes
The session will generate actionable insights and recommendations for policymakers, developers, and civil society on leveraging open-source AI for sustainable development while addressing its associated risks. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the key trade-offs in open-source AI development, including governance, accountability, and sustainability.
A key output will be a synthesis report summarising best practices, case studies, and policy recommendations discussed during the session. This report can serve as a resource for governments, organisations, and researchers working on AI governance and digital inclusion. Additionally, the session aims to foster collaboration by connecting stakeholders across sectors and geographies, potentially leading to follow-up initiatives such as policy dialogues, research partnerships, or open-source projects that further the responsible development and deployment of AI.
By facilitating a global exchange of ideas, the session will contribute to ongoing discussions on AI governance, innovation, and equitable access to AI-driven solutions.
Hybrid Format: * We will have a menti-meter at the beginning of the session to elicit perspectives from onsite and online participants of the main opportunities and challenges of open-source AI for SDGs.
* Speakers will be asked to make a 3-4 slide presentation representing their views. This will make it easier for everyone to engage equally in the conversation.
* Following the speakers' presentation, online participants will be given the floor first to share their questions and thoughts.
* On the VC link through which onsite and online participants engage with each other, we will have a fixed window that shows the discussion in online chat for on-site participants.
* We will have a moderator and rapporteur both on-site and online. The onsite rapporteur will share highlights from the onsite conversation to the online chat, and vice versa.