LocationsAI Empowerment Programme for Civil Servants:
Strengthening Digital Capacities in Public Administration
PROJECT OWNER: UNDP NY, United States
The AI Empowerment Programme for Civil Servants by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a strategic training initiative designed to strengthen governments’ institutional capacities for the ethical, effective, and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Inspired by the capacity-building framework developed by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development's Working Group, this program aims to equip civil servants with conceptual and technical tools tailored to their national contexts.
The program is implemented in a customized manner across selected countries, taking into account factors such as digital maturity, priority public policy sectors, regulatory capacity, and local Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This adaptability ensures that the content directly addresses the specific challenges governments face during their transition toward data-driven and AI-enabled governance models.
The main components of the program include:
AI Fundamentals for the Public Sector – Offers a clear and accessible understanding of what AI is, how it works, and its opportunities and risks for public administration.
Use Cases and Practical Applications – Examines real-life examples of AI use in public health, justice, social services, environmental management, urban planning, and labor policies.
Ethical and Regulatory Framework – Promotes principles such as algorithmic transparency, fairness, data privacy, human rights protection, and accountability.
AI Governance – Discusses the need to establish national policies, oversight bodies, monitoring frameworks, and mechanisms for civic participation in the implementation of AI systems.
Sustainable Capacity Building – Includes training-of-trainers models, development of communities of practice, and peer-to-peer mentoring schemes to ensure continuity and scalability of learning.
This UNDP programme aims to empower governments not only to understand the potential of AI but to lead its adoption responsibly, promoting a people-centered digital transformation. It also seeks to bridge knowledge gaps between countries with varying income levels, ensuring that the benefits of AI are distributed equitably and do not reinforce structural exclusions.
Ultimately, the AI Empowerment Programme positions UNDP as a key actor in developing state capacities to govern emerging technologies, promoting frameworks that align technological innovation with social justice, inclusive development, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
This article was originally published in: https://www.undp.org/digital
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