First RAIN-Africa Workshop

RAIN-Africa could not have been launched at a better time…

The first virtual workshop of the Responsible AI Network-Africa (RAIN-Africa) took place on Thursday, May 28th, 2020. During this workshop, Dr. Catlin Corrigan, Scientific Coordinator of the IEAI, Dr. Jerry John Kponyo, Dean of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty at KNUST and Prof. Christoph Lütge, Director of the IEAI, had the opportunity to stress the importance of this partnership to increase technological development and its effectiveness by making it more relevant to the African content. This joint initiative between the two institutions seeks to bring together Africa’s AI stakeholders (from academia, civil society, industry, international community, and policy) and build joint projects on the ethical and social challenges arising at the interface of technology and human values, specifically as it relates to sustainable development.

AI-based technologies have the potential to help achieve sustainable development goals in a variety of ways. Dr. Corrigan presented the scope, aim, and objective of the RAIN-Africa, which was launched as a strategic partnership between the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (IEAI) and the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. She especially underlined its focus on AI and Sustainable Development. Dr. Kponyo, emphasized how AI drives the 4th Industrial Revolution and how African nations can benefit greatly from advancements in AI. Thus, he said, the Responsible AI in Africa Network could not have come in a better time. Last but not least, Prof. Lütge explained the importance of raising awareness about the ethical considerations related to the development of the AI in general and its potential implications for the African content in particular. He further stressed that AI should be accessible for all and that AI without ethics “won’t fly”.

This well-attended workshop was just a first step in building a strong, active network of scholars and other experts, working on the responsible development and use of AI in Africa. More events and workshop will be announced soon. To keep up to date with RAIN-Africa’s events and activites, sign up for the newsletter or follow them on LinkedIn or Twitter.