Morocco is the first African and Arab country to implement UNESCO’s Recommendations on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, Gabriela Ramos, said Friday in Rabat.
Speaking at a national conference to present the UNESCO’s AI readiness assessment report for Morocco, Ramos congratulated the Kingdom on this pioneering initiative, stressing that the country has been a forerunner in the region in launching its report.
Highlighting the findings of the Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM), the UN agency’s Assistant Director-General underlined that Morocco benefits from robust foundations for the growth of a dynamic AI ecosystem, with a solid technological infrastructure and a strong connectivity.
Among its outstanding assets, she cited its exemplary Open Data policies that are considered to be the driving force behind the development of artificial intelligence.
The UN official also pointed out that Morocco is equipped with high-quality training and education facilities for AI skills and research, citing the Moroccan International Center for Artificial Intelligence at UM6P, a category 2 center under UNESCO auspices.
She also praised the strong digital equity policies implemented in the Kingdom, which result in one of the highest rates of female engineers in the world (42%), stressing that this is an essential ingredient in building an equitable research and development ecosystem, as gender inequalities within the teams that develop these models lead to inequalities downstream.
She noted that this is an area in which Morocco has particularly distinguished itself and should serve as a model for other countries.
For her part, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, Ghita Mezzour, said the report was part of the national digital development strategy, which aims to support the digital transition of public services by exploiting AI potential to improve the quality of services offered to citizens and businesses.
In this respect, the Minister noted that collaboration with UNESCO experts is of paramount importance, in particular within the current context of AI ecosystem reinforcement in Morocco, whether it is through supporting start-ups, promoting research and development or attracting specialized international stakeholders in order to become a “major producer in this field”.
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