After the High-Level Conference on AI: From Ambition to Action, jointly organised on 14 and 15 September 2021 by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission in the frame of its instrument of international outreach for human-centric AI (InTouchAI.eu) - as the project's Team Leader - I am delighted to announce the next destination of the “journey” to promote the European vision on sustainable and trustworthy AI in the world!

On 15th and 16th March 2022 the European Commission, through InTouchAI.eu, is organizing a High-level event on European AI Excellence and Trust at the world at EXPO Dubai. The event is aimed at highlighting the EU approach to AI and discuss the way that this approach can serve as an example to strengthen international cooperation and dialogue around regulatory and ethical dimensions. This goes hand in hand with the goal of InTouchAI.eu, officially launched on September during our event in Slovenia.

The event is structured around two main activities: A High-Level Forum on the EU Vision for Trustworthy AI in the World, hosted at the Italian Pavilion on 15th March; and two Expert Workshops on A Human-Centric Approach to Global Challenges that will be hosted at the Spanish Pavilion on 16th March.

The High-Level Forum will focused on the EU efforts to promote Trustworthy AI at a global level and will be introduced by high-level representatives of the European Commission and Member States, as well as a keynote speech by Aimee van Wynsberghe. It will be then followed by a panel debate with renowned experts from industry, research and civil society organisations, to discuss aspects of Trustworthy AI, such as the implications of the world’s first legal framework on AI proposed by the EU, AI excellence and the related ecosystem, as well as possible partnerships that can be built internationally.

The expert workshops, will focus on AI for Health, that I will have the pleasure to moderate, and on AI for Sustainability, moderated by the InTouchAI.eu Key Expert on AI Ethics, Gry Hasselbalch. Both workshops will present concrete examples of AI solutions being developed in the EU.

In addition to these main events, an AI Exhibition and various networking events will populate what has now been named the “AI Week at EXPO Dubai”.

As it was emphasized by the Slovenian Minister of Public Administration Boštjan Koritnik last September: "The EU wants to encourage a discussion on how to adequately regulate this area and provide sustainable support for future AI development. We are entering somewhat an uncharted territory, and only through wide participation in an open discussion we can gain an understanding of the potential effects of various decisions in the future”. And as stressed by Lucilla Sioli, Director for AI and Digital Industry at the European Commission, “Governing successfully AI cannot be done in isolation, but requires an international approach providing a common direction to navigate together the huge opportunities that emerging technologies are offering us, while at the same time helping to address the challenges and risks these same tools are posing to our societies today, and more so for the future generations”.

The EU High-Level event at World EXPO Dubai has exactly the goal to further nurture the global discussion on how to enhance international cooperation so to generate a beneficial cross-fertilization among various ongoing initiatives that could enable the common pursuit of higher standards in a shared exercise of collective action in support of growth and equitable development worldwide.

The event will take place in a hybrid format that will allow you to browse online or in person the various happenings and take you in a virtual AI tour around the world. More information on how to access the event will be available soon. I look forward to seeing you in Dubai - in person or online - to further pave the way to human-centric AI in the world!