UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa in partnership with the Government of Namibia hosted the Southern Africa sub-Regional Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) from 7 to 9 September 2022 in Windhoek, Namibia.

The three-day Forum running under the theme “Towards a development-oriented sustainable and ethical use of artificial intelligence” facilitated forward-looking debates, knowledge sharing, sector-wide strategy planning, networking, and partnership incubation with a particular focus on Southern Africa.

Attending the forum were over 1100 attendees from 16 countries joining both physically and virtually.

The forum saw keynote speeches, technical consultations and ministerial-level interaction delivered by experts with a focus on exploring the AI Landscape in Southern Africa, AI Governance and Standard-Setting, delivering on UNESCO’s Global Standards on the Ethics of AI, and a special event on “readiness and ethical impact Assessments.”

The forum featured sessions on unearthing the best practices and recommendations to enhance Capacity Building for AI Development and Application, Capacity Building for Civil Servants, and Utilisation of AI in Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Southern Africa. The principles of Inclusion and Equality in the development and use of AI were also under the spotlight.  Also discussed were key issues about Gender Equality in the Development and Use of AI as well as the link between Youth and AI.

A dedicated ministerial session on the need for the development of strategic multi-stakeholder partnerships for AI also became a key area of discussion. Specifically highlighted, was the important role played by the regional and continental Organisations such as the AU and SADC, as well as the private sector and civil society. The outcome of the discussions is expected to contribute to the implementation of the UNESCO/SADC Secretariat Joint Programme of Action (2022-2025). 
Speaking during the session, Hon.Dr. Kandji-Murangi, Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Namibia, called for well-coordinated innovation systems across our countries as we build towards an African-centric dataset hub for our AI solutions to truly represent our own needs without extending biases from unknown datasets.

It was also pointed out that, now is the opportune time for the region to wear innovative & creative hats and move forward strategically together, to develop responsive policy framework & national strategies that will put into motion responsible & ethical AI-driven solutions in Africa.

Side events on practical AI and hands-on sessions on robotics were organised for students and youth to expose them to innovative technologies. About 70 students (50 from universities and 20 from high schools in Windhoek) participated in the side events. The side events sought to inspire to take up and stay in STEM careers, focussed on exposing the students to the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and to enhance their confidence in the use of such tools. The boot camp is part of an ongoing series of awareness-raising events to inspire students to choose and stay in STEM-related fields. Particular focus was placed on actionable solutions for sustainable development, applying emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics in Agriculture, Energy, Water, and Health.