A Handbook for Implementing a Capacity Building Course for Policy Makers on AI
Artificial Intelligence has graduated from a casual buzzword to a practical tool in both the private and public sectors - with AI technologies forecasted to add $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Governments in the Global North, where considerable frameworks of AI governance originate, are in a position to utilise what AI has to offer, in a way that governments in the Global South aren’t fully positioned for yet. Academics, researchers and policymakers in the Global South are attempting to close that gap to ensure that they aren’t left behind in the wake of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, while also balancing the need to be conscious and responsible with the applications of AI.
Last year, Digital Futures Lab partnered with the South Africa-based Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), supported by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), to create a peer-learning and capacity-building programme on Artificial Intelligence for policymakers from Africa and India. You can access the course here.
The course consists of 5 modules
- Module 1: Introduction to AI - Overview of AI and Considerations for the Global South
- Module 2: Fundamentals of Tech Policy - AI policy enablers and the importance of sectoral approaches
- Module 3: Governance as an Enabler - Data governance and sharing, ethics & human rights
- Module 4: Getting Practical - Co-production and design, conducting social impact assessments
- Module 5: Institutional Readiness - Capacities for building responsible AI ecosystems
To ensure that this capacity-building course reaches greater communities of policymakers and changemakers in the Global South, GIZ and HSRC also created a handbook for how to replicate the course successfully. The handbook, which comes with pre-prepared slides ready to use for each module, is targeted at organisations and people who want to set up a course of this kind, like universities for their policy programmes, training organisations, etc.
In partnership with Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA), the course also lives on the SADA e-learning portal, supported by Atingi. It is accessible as a self-study course for any policymakers interested in learning about data governance, and AI use cases for sustainable development.
With example case studies situated in the context of the Global South and a step-by-step guide for effective replication, the GIZ AI for Policymakers Handbook is a great tool for anyone who wants to introduce the programme in their spheres. Those interested in self-studying the course can access it here on SADA’s atingi platform.
If you are an individual or representative of an institution interested in rolling out this course to interested cohorts, please write to us!