A number of civil society organisations working in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region kicked off MENA Coalition to Combat Digital Surveillance. The coalition is co-led by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and Access Now among other nine organisations. It aims at advocating against the sales of digital surveillance tools to [...]

During a high-level dialogue at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) global conference for World Press Freedom Day, the UNESCO released a brief under the title of Letting the Sun Shine In: Transparency and Accountability in the Digital Age. The brief, which includes a selection of high-level principles to enhance the transparency of [...]

Following the leak of the European Commission’s draft legislation on artificial intelligence (AI), two groups of European Parliament members (MEPs) have sent letters to the Commission calling for a ban on biometric mass surveillance. The first letter, sent on 15 April and signed by 40 MEPs, urges the Commission to propose a clear ban on [...]

President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Audrey Azoulay launched the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) with the presence of policy makers, researchers, representatives of the private sector, civil society organizations. The IRCAI and its partners outlined the agenda for AI-related research, [...]

The World Economic Forum issued a white paper on Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society which examines the concept of co-design in partnership with civil society with a special focus on COVID-19 technology interventions. The paper looks at the role of civil society in developing such technologies in collaboration with the private [...]

The Council of Europe’s Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI) has launched a multistakeholder consultation to gather views that will feed into the work of its Legal Frameworks Group. The group is in charge of preparing the main elements of a legal framework on the design, development, and application of artificial intelligence (AI), based [...]

The UN Child Rights Committee made up of 18 individual experts, has published a legal guidance note also known as the general comment on how states should protect children’s rights with regard to the digital environment. This general comment 25 is a result of two year consultation with states, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, national human [...]

In collaboration with the UK’s Digital Access Programme, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)  convened a technical virtual conference on digital inclusion for underserved and unserved communities and Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs). Different stakeholders from the government, private sector, civil society, and the international development community [...]

The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) has published the 2021 edition of its Artificial Intelligence Index Report, looking at the impact and progress of artificial intelligence (AI) in seven key areas: research and development, technical performance, economic issues, AI education, ethical challenges of AI applications, diversity in AI, and AI policy and national [...]

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond of Chile as his Envoy on Technology. The newly founded position of the Envoy will lead the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Roadmap on Digital Cooperation in close consultation with the Member States, the technology industry, civil society, and other stakeholders.  The Envoy will [...]