Malta publishes Consultation Document on National AI Strategy

On March 21st, the Maltese government published a high-level policy document for public consultation on Malta’s AI strategy. The document seeks to highlight the vision and scope of a strategy which the Maltese government hopes it will position the country as a jurisdiction of choice for AI companies.

The government seeks to build its AI strategy on three main pillars:

- Investment, start-ups and innovation: the government aims to attract foreign companies which can contribute with their know-how and pool of expertise to develop the AI sector
- Public sector adoption: AI will be deployed to provide better services to citizens and businesses, improve the social and economic well-being, and streamline the internal operations of the public sector. AI adoption will be encouraged in key sectors, such as Healthcare, Education, Traffic Management, Citizen Services, Tourism and Elderly Care, amongst others.
- Private Sector Adoption: the government will also commission a study to gauge the private sector’s readiness to adopt AI technologies, identify enablers and blockers and set up measures to encourage adoption.

Strategic enablers will be put in place to support the above pillars:

• Education and workforce: workers in every sector of society will be trained to become flexible and well-equipped for change, and  be able to benefit from the deployment of new technologies;
• Legal and Ethical Framework: strong regulatory foundations will ensure fair and ethical use of AI;
• Ecosystem infrastructure: an audit of the current situation regarding the enablers will be carried out to ensure that they can support the delivery of the objectives as set out in the strategy. The legislator will then build a detailed roadmap setting out the actions, initiatives and investments needed to make Malta more attractive across different spheres.

You can access the full consultation document here: https://malta.ai/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Towards-an-AI-Strategy.pdf