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IGF 2024 WS #97 Interoperability of AI Governance: Scope and Mechanism

    Organizer 1: Yik Chan Chin, Beijing Normal University
    Organizer 2: J Amado Espinosa L, Medisist
    Organizer 3: Sergio Mayo Macias, Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón

    Speaker 1: Dr Yik Chan Chin, Associate Professor, Beijing Normal University, China ; Co-leader of the IGF Policy Network on AI (PNAI)
    Speaker 2: Mr.  Poncelet Ileleji, CEO - Jokkolabs Banjul /NRI Gambia, Africa
    Speaker 3: Mr. Sam Daws, Senior Advisor, Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, Oxford University, UK and Director, Multilateral AI
    Speaker 4: Dr Xiao Zhang, Deputy Director, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) & Deputy Director of China IGF
    Speaker 5: Mr. Mauricio Gibson, Head of International AI Policy, AI Policy Directorate, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK
    Speaker 6: Dr. Neha Mishra, Assistant Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland

    Moderator

    Dr Chafic Chaya, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

    Online Moderator

    Mr. Heramb Podar, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

    Rapporteur

    Yik Chan Chin, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

    Format

    Roundtable
    Duration (minutes): 90
    Format description: The session will focus on a specific Internet governance topic, the topic is focused but also broad that will require in-depth deliberation and debate by five experts with diverse perspective, gender, region, and stakeholder group , thus 90 minutes roundtable is the best suited format to allow a sufficiently deep and effective deliberation and interaction.

    Policy Question(s)

     

    1. Understanding the Interoperability of AI Governance
      What is your understanding of interoperability, and what are the most issues that need to be addressed at the global level, and what are the obstacles? 

    2. Addressing Interoperability Issues
      How can different actors address interoperability, and how can we balance regional variations with global approaches?

    3. The Role of the UN in Global AI Governance
      What role should the UN play in tackling AI governance?

     

    What will participants gain from attending this session? The participants and attendees will gain new knowledge, insights and understanding of 1) individual country and region’s current AI interoperability efforts 2) The scope of and most important mechanisms of achieving the interoperability of AI Governance from technologic, regulatory and semantic perspectives 3) How to promote the collaborative and inclusive international cooperation to achieve the AI governance's interoperability

    Description:

    Interoperability is often understood as the ability of different systems to communicate and work seamlessly together. OECD AI principles, recent UN Resolution on AI, and UN HLAB on AI's interim report all stresses on the importance of developing interoperable AI. We need to analyse if and how different regulations/norms/standards/ to govern AI could work together. The 2023 IGF PNAI report defines the interoperability in AI as a framework that brings together of three key aspects: (1) the substantive mechanisms involved in guiding and developing of digital technology; (2) multistakeholder interactions and interconnections, and (3) agreed ways to communicate and cooperate. Recent developments in the EU and ASEAN regions offer valuable insights emphasising transparency, accountability, and defining interoperability requirements that ensure AI systems are comprehensible and operate consistently across different regions. This workshop will address the scope and mechanism of interoperability of AI governance from three aspects: 1.)  Identify the most important and pressing regulatory, technological, data and semantic issues of AI governance needed to be addressed at the global level ; 2) define the principles, methodologies and mechanisms should be applied;  3) Promot collaborative and inclusive international cooperation to align methodologies and mechanism that promote innovation and prevent the fragmentation of the governance of AI systems. For instance, potential agreement on the standards for a technical exchange of data, testing, training and deployment etc.

    Agenda:

    1) Introuction to speakers        10 mins

    2) Three policy questions deliberation     40 mins

    3) Feedback on delibration     10 mins

    4) Q&A       30 mins 

     

    Multistakeholder speakers and moderators from Africa, China, Inidia, EU, UK Middle East will discuss above questions from diverse geographic and stakeholders’perspectives.

     

    Expected Outcomes

    1) Deliberate and identify the scope and most important mechanisms of achieving the interoperability of AI Governance from technical, regulatory and semantic perspectives; 2) Identify the different AI governance interoperability efforts and problems in speakers’ countries and region; 3) Develop a framework for collaborative response that includes multi-stakeholders (not only governments) such as technical sector, civil society, private sector and other specialists to provide a meaningful platform that tackles the interoperability of AI governance. 4) Policy recommendations and key messages report to the UN and regional/national IGF communities, private AI companies, and other relevant epistemic communities including thinktanks such as Oxford Global Society, Industrial associations such as China’s Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance etc

    Hybrid Format: 1) The workshop has an onsite moderator and online moderator, each is responsible for moderating the onsite and online speakers and attendees. And both moderators will ensure all speakers and attendees no matter online and onsite will have the equal opportunity to speak, raise questions and engage in each session of the workshop. 2)The session will be moderated by the online and onsite moderators. The moderators will invite each speaker to express their views on a set of questions and guide the debate amongst speakers and the audience, moderators will invite questions from the onsite audience and online participants, the question time will last about 30 minutes in order to provide sufficient interactions amongst speakers, audience and online participants. 3)The social media platforms including Youtube, X, Facebook, Weibo and Wechat etc will be used to increase the participation and to carry out online streaming of the session,

    Key Takeaways (* deadline at the end of the session day)

    The UN acts as a key point of disemmination of information to member states and to build mutual understanding in terms of AI governance. However, it is only as powerful as it's member states are willing to let it be. There are prevailing tensions between multilateralism and multistakeholderism which need to be adressed at a global level. Next steps are to find priorities to focus on a national, regional and international level.

    Call to Action (* deadline at the end of the session day)

    Reduce overlapping agendas, capacity building on a grassroots and governmental level. There needs to be consideration on different domains of interoperability like cultural, linguistic, ethical, technical and data.Establish a global AI policy dialogue in IGF. To maximize IGF's potential for delivering concrete outcomes, long-term sustainability needs to be ensured through increased financial, technical and human resources support.