WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched a new platform that will offer a one-stop-shop with consulting, training, a broader portfolio and all the tools that countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region need to use artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly.

IDB said together with its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, it has presented fAIr LAC+, a new phase of an initiative launched in 2019.

IDB said the AI ecosystem is complex, cross-sectoral and multidimensional, and each country has distinct and specific challenges.

“In this context, Latin American and Caribbean countries can use fAIr LAC+ to harness technology for concrete and tangible gains like reducing social inequality and improving public service delivery,” it said.

It said the new fAIr LAC+ portfolio will focus on the three dimensions where the region has the highest need for AI support: designing and applying regulatory frameworks; developing, adopting, and using technologies; and strengthening skills and capacities.

“fAIr LAC+ will offer governments and other members of the ecosystem both tools and advice and support on developing and strengthening capacities to make AI projects sustainable. It will help policymakers co-create regulatory frameworks, provide training on how to use AI responsibly and ethically, develop startup accelerator programs in the region, and encourage the adoption of best practices and international governance standards.

“fAIr LAC+ will also facilitate pilots and sandboxes to test and evaluate the impact of regulations, technologies and strategies in practice, providing support for risk management and the transition from theory to reality,” the IDB said.

It said through the new initiative, the IDB and IDB Lab will make their experience and knowledge available to the region to promote and help cement strategic alliances among the different players in the ecosystem, including governments, the private sector, academia and civil society.

“fAIr LAC+ will deepen the work the platform has done so far to consolidate a diverse network of partners and experts, and it will establish a Network of Centers of Excellence in AI Research and Development to foster regional collaboration on strategic projects, the circulation of talent and knowledge, and AI-based innovation,” the IDB stated.