Good Morning, everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this important event. We stand at the forefront of one of the most profound and rapid technological transformations in history. Artificial intelligence already significantly impacts many aspects of our lives, reshaping the way we work, learn, and organise as a society.

This is particularly the case in Tanzania, with its rich technology ecosystem and strong governmental support for digitalization and AI. The theme of this conference and the presence of diverse stakeholders, including UNESCO, showcase the government’s commitment to steering AI's impacts toward positive socio-economic transformation. It is also encouraging to see efforts toward a national strategy for artificial intelligence, setting out the government's plans for developing Tanzania as an AI-powered society.

As we marvel at AI's growing capabilities, especially generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, we must recognize that this transformation also brings substantial concerns. These technologies can bring enormous benefits: greater productivity, more efficient delivery of public services, broader societal empowerment, and economic growth. However, they also risk perpetuating global inequalities, destabilising societies, and endangering human rights and democracy if they are not safe, representative, fair, and accessible to all.

This is why, at UNESCO, we believe that the conversation on AI is a societal one, not merely a technological one. It is about envisioning the society we want and then aligning technologies with that vision. Our aim is not to control technology but to steer its development in a direction that serves human goals.

We must ensure the rule of law and create policy frameworks that mitigate negative impacts while steering the development and deployment of AI systems to address national priorities and global challenges. This is about incentives, policies, and ethical frameworks, all underpinning the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. This recommendation remains one of the only globally agreed normative standards for AI ethics, covering 194 countries. Over the past two and a half years, UNESCO has actively worked to implement this recommendation, helping governments translate provisions related to human rights, human dignity, sustainability, and fairness into concrete policy action.

Today marks an important milestone in this work, as I am delighted to join you in launching Tanzania's Readiness Assessment Methodology, or RAM. I would like to thank and congratulate the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology and the Tanzanian Government for their commitment to putting ethics at the heart of the AI strategy through this multi-stakeholder project.

The RAM is a diagnostic tool that shows where a country stands in terms of AI infrastructure, governance, investments, laws, social policies, culture, education, and science. Based on this data, as well as the findings from multi-stakeholder consultations, UNESCO will produce a report highlighting the impressive developments in Tanzania's technology landscape and presenting key policy recommendations to advance Tanzania's journey toward a thriving, ethical, and responsible AI ecosystem aligned with UNESCO’s recommendations.

This process goes beyond simply providing policy recommendations. We stand ready to help with implementation through our global networks, including the AI Experts Without Borders and Women for Ethical AI, and through tools like our ethical impact assessment. We also offer the Business Council, an observatory on global governance, and peer-learning opportunities with 50 other countries undertaking RAMs worldwide.

We very much look forward to working with the Tanzanian government on this project, and I wish you all the best in your discussions and plans for a national AI strategy going forward. Thank you for your attention.