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AILA
Artificial Intelligence Landscape Assessment
Assessing countries’ AI landscape to unlock possibilities
Countries are navigating complex choices related to Artificial Intelligence AI that can carry immense opportunities as well as risks. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting countries with designing responsible AI strategies for context, scaling for impact and delivering measurable change for people and communities.
AILA: seizing the momentum of the AI revolution
UNDP's Artificial Intelligence Landscape Assessment (AILA) is a modular diagnostic tool that provides countries with a future-ready 360-degree AI readiness pathway based on their local ecosystem.
AILA offers a structured, measured response that helps countries to act decisively, surfacing actionable recommendations that are grounded in context-specific realities, to deliver society-wide benefits.
Using a whole-of-society approach, AILA helps governments and local ecosystems evaluate a country's preparedness for AI adoption. It examines factors such as infrastructure, skills, data, innovation support, governmental strategic vision, technological capabilities and mechanisms for accountability, inclusivity, safety and transparency in AI development and deployment.
AILA is based on three pillars:
AI Ecosystem: Enabling Environment | Green Computing | Talent | Data
AI for Government: AI Governance | AI Capacity | Technology | Data Governance
AI Regulation & Ethics: Regulation | AI Ethics | Trust & Safety
AILA builds on the key pillars of UNDP's Digital Transformation Framework, a blueprint for countries embarking on their digital transformation journey. Whether governments are just beginning to adopt AI or are seeking to refine existing strategies, AILA empowers policymakers to make informed decisions towards ensuring that AI is developed and deployed inclusively, ethically and sustainably.
Guiding countries towards AI readiness
AILA charts a country's AI journey with a data-informed view of where that country stands today, its next level of growth, and how to get there. It combines expert insights, stakeholder perspectives, and global indicators to generate actionable insights to achieve real-life benefits for communities and countries.
AILA also provides recommendations on how countries can enhance their AI capabilities. These insights help to better equip countries with the intelligence to craft robust, innovative AI strategies, blueprints and policies.
AILA can unlock strategic opportunities
- A pathway for progress: AILA goes beyond assessment to become a vehicle for national growth. By linking AI to development goals and service delivery, AILA helps countries translate ambitions into actions.
- Legitimacy and trust: AILA offers governments both political value and technical insight. By providing an evidence-based assessment of risks and opportunities, it supports informed decision-making, helps leaders demonstrate credibility, and builds public confidence in responsible AI.
- Collaboration and convening power: Stewarded by UNDP, AILA brings together government, the private sector, civil society and academia to drive collective action on people-centred, responsible AI. UNDP's work on AI is supported by UN inter-agency cooperation, and complements UNESCO's Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) for AI. Read more about the UNESCO - UNDP joint collaboration.
We invite countries to explore AILA as they navigate complex choices and work to build a safe, inclusive and sustainable digital future powered by AI.
Discover how other countries are using AILA
Country insights generated by AILA
Testimonials from stakeholders
“AI and other digital technologies can advance democracy and human rights by facilitating civic engagement and political participation. They can also prevent information pollution and as such play an important role in strengthening social cohesion – depending on the choices we make.”
— Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator
"We have already established the AI committee to formulate the National AI Strategy. [AILA] will help us assess where we are as a country today to secure the benefits of AI and support the formulation of the foundation for strategy."
— Hon. Kanaka Herath, State Minister of Technology, Sri Lanka
"AILA served as a valuable diagnostic tool, providing insights into Sri Lanka's AI landscape across three key dimensions: Government as a User, Enabler of AI, and Ethical AI. These insights significantly contributed to the development of our AI strategy and informed the final strategy document."
— Deshani Nisansala Senanayake, Gender and Experimentation Lead & Digital Advocate, Sri Lanka CO
"The AI Landscape Assessment has been a transformative tool for Montenegro, enabling a comprehensive analysis of AI readiness across society and government. Its actionable recommendations are positioned to shape policies, infrastructure, and skills development, driving our progress toward ethical AI integration and sustainable digital transformation."
— UNDP Montenegro Country Office
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Interested in learning more or exploring how AILA could support your country's AI journey? Get in touch with our team: digital@undp.org.