The first Eastern Africa forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) successfully kicked off Monday in Nairobi after four years’ postponement occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kenyan Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Prof. Peter Ngure, while appraising the organisers of the three-day Eastern Africa Regional Forum on Artificial Intelligence (EARFAI), said the planning committee for the forum, drawn from UNESCO and its agencies in collaboration with line ministries in the Eastern Africa Regional governments, hosted by Kenya, went full throttle to ensure the success of the important event.
We are ready. Welcome to Kenya is the message shared by Amb. Ngure after verifying the level of readiness for the international event, while thanking the security team and the media for ensuring security during the event and freedom of expression, respectively.
He pleaded with the vibrant media in Kenya to tell the EARFAI story to the highest level, as has been the case with other leaders in AI. This time the story should be from Africa, which will appeal to potential investors in technical and financial support for AI implementation in the region.
Amb. Peter Ngure commended the delegation from UNESCO headquarters led by Victor Soo, the UNESCO East African Regional Office, and the line government Ministries in Kenya, which worked tirelessly to ensure nothing fell through the cracks.
“Kenya operates at very high standards, and this is an opportunity to demonstrate the spirit of excellence in our country, which is a privilege for UNESCO to allow us to host the AI conference,” he said.
The Ambassador clarified that the EARFAI conference is not a Kenyan event, although Kenyans will be the majority due to proximity, with 14 countries having played critical roles in the planning process from conception to the development of the conference.
He was cognizant of the mentors and godfathers in AI and also appreciated those who would be coming to tap expertise from the forum to go and better their countries in rolling it out.
He expressed that the level of experts invited to the event will be given the ultimate time to enrich the knowledge base for others to tap as much from them during the three-day event.
Prof. Ngure said ‘excellent’ research findings by UNESCO will be shared by the Assistant Director General of UNESCO during the conference to ascertain where Kenya is in terms of AI.
He appreciated that the opportunity was a privilege for Kenya as a country because this is one of the major research findings to be released worldwide and will thus set the pace for the rest of Africa and the world.
The findings will ascertain where we are in matters of AI as a country, identify the gaps and challenges, and what the potential is.
This is a very collaborative venture respecting the inputs of one another and helpful, especially for guests from outside the country, urging Kenyans to take a break from politics and concentrate on the important event since missing out on the opportunity will take ages to catch up with the global leaders in AI.
He reiterated that the products and outcomes from this forum will inform, to a large extent, where Africa as a continent will go in terms of AI.
Artificial intelligence has now been able to match the speed and depth of thinking equivalent to what a human can do.
Computers are as intelligent as you are. In a span of 12 to 36 months, AI technologies will be thinking better than us.
AI is a positive thing, and Kenya has been seen as a leader in technology, thus being the entry point for the rest of Africa. As a leader, let us not be suspicious and overly cautious, saying our data will be exposed since they already have it and there’s nothing we are losing.
Instead, let us bank on the trust we have gained and the technology and innovations we have deployed.
He emphasised that this forum on Artificial Intelligence will be remembered in history for having turned this region in the right direction, urging the media not to look for the negative but instead to position the country where it belongs.
The Ambassador tasked all enthusiasts to embrace AI and move with it, leveraging on all networks, including the United States, China, and the European Union, who already have an Artificial Intelligence Act in their laws. Adding Artificial Intelligence is taken so seriously that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a Ministry of AI, where the Minister will be attending #EARFAI2024.
Senior Security Personnel Reuben Muli from Vigilance House Police Headquarters in Kenya assured participants that all necessary arrangements have been put in place to guarantee security during the event.
Muli said accreditation, registration, and screening of all participants will be conducted before gaining access to the venue to avert any incidences, calling on everyone to comply to ensure seamless security service delivery.
On his part, Mbusa Owuor from Nairobi region police operations reiterated that security will be provided from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for international delegates to their hotels as well as from the hotels to the venue and back during the forum period.
Victor Soo, a representative from UNESCO headquarters in Paris, observed that EARFAI is an important issue impacting on the region and beyond the continental level on a global scale.
“Africa missed out in the first, second, and third revolutions; it’s time the continent reawakens to grab the opportunities that come with AI in the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions occasioned by technology, quantum computing, and 5G,’’ Soo added.
The planning committee is chaired by Dr. Joel Ogoto and comprises UNESCO and its agencies, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Information Communications, and the Digital Economy, among others.
The Eastern Africa Regional member states taking part in the forum include Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
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