SADC countries & AI readiness: Who is most prepared for tech’s next frontier
Over the last 18 months - Artificial Intelligence (AI) has started to gain momentum that is making it next to impossible for most of us to ignore it… Most people working in a skilled capacity are currently forced to contend with the question - what will work look like 5 to 10 years from now? Beyond what work will look like the next question to contend with is whether or not the country you’re in is priming itself to be prepared for this technological revolution.
We studied annual AI readiness reports from Oxford Insights from 2019-2023. The reports are an annual assessment of the readiness of countries to adopt AI in public services and business, spanning over 190 countries making it one of the most comprehensive sources of information on AI.
The AI Readiness Index explores a country’s performance across the following pillars and then assigns a score which determines the country's ranking:
| Governance | Ranks the government’s strategic vision for how it develops and governs AI, supported byappropriate regulation and attention to ethical risks (governance and ethics). It also assess whether governments have strong internal digital capacity, including the skills and practices that support its adaptability in the face of new technologies. |
| Technology | A government depends on a good supply of AI tools from the country’s technology sector, whichneeds to be mature enough to supply the government. The sector should have high innovation capacity, underpinned by a business environment that supports entrepreneurship and a good flow of R&D spending. Good levels of human capital — the skills and education of the people working in this sector — are also crucial. |
| Data & Structure | AI tools need lots of high-quality data (data availability) which, to avoid bias and error, should also be representative of the citizens in a given country (data representativeness). Finally, this data’s potential cannot be realised without the infrastructure necessary to power AI tools and deliver them to citizens. |
How are countries in the SADC region doing?
Case study: What’s Mauritius getting right?
For half a decade now - Mauritius has been regarded as Africa’s most pro-AI country. It’s not surprising given that the nation released the Mauritius Artificial Intelligence strategy document as far back as 2018 and had provisions for an AI council that far back. The strategy was detailed and proposed the country focus on the Ocean Economy, which comprises over 10% of Mauritius’ GDP. The AI strategy document suggested investment into a maritime Internet of Things.
Tagged: AI Preparedness SADC, AI SADC, AI Southern Africa, Artificial Intelligence Africa, Oxford Insights