To fully benefit from the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents, leaders must ensure equitable access to digital devices and literacy, Rwanda's Minister of ICT and Innovation said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Paula Ingabire was on a panel discussion on re-inventing digital inclusion in the age of AI advancement, on Tuesday, February 21, the second day of the World Economic Forum, which has attracted leaders in government, businesses and civil society with the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age."
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"If we are not careful, AI will exacerbate the digital divide," Ingabire said.
"But it's also an opportunity. We still have an opportunity to think through what it means if we truly want to be intentional and deliberate about closing the gap," she noted.
Other panelists were Fatoumata Ba, the founder of Janngo Capital, Strive Masiyiwa, the founder of Cassava Technologies, Robert Smith, the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and Karen Tso, a journalist at with CNBC International.
Ingabire highlighted Rwanda's efforts to address these gaps through its AI Policy, which focuses on creating critical building blocks for AI integration while mitigating associated risks.
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"Thinking about how we democratize access to compute capacity, how we democratize access to the different training models that are out there, how we build the right human capital and capacity required to drive AI adoption across different African countries," the minister said.
"Those are some of the things that are central to the national AI policy and strategy that Rwanda has, in thinking about these building blocks that are so critical for us to be able to benefit from the promises that AI presents us, but also at the same time thinking about the risks."
She noted that regional and global collaboration will be key to addressing these risks and putting in place the right safeguards.
Ingabire underscored Rwanda's commitment to not only regulating AI use but also experimenting with it across various fields.
"We want to be able to lead the way. We can't only put on a hat of regulations and policymaking. We also want to be able to experiment with the potential of AI across different fields of the public sector," she explained.
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"That gives us an advantage point of making sure that when we set the regulations and policies, we are coming from a place of understanding how these are being used even in the public sector and how we can use these pieces of legislation to enable innovation within the private sector."
Asked about Rwanda's efforts to tackle digital literacy, Ingabire pointed out that the government prioritised integration of digital literacy programmes into the education system, from primary school to tertiary education institutions.
She emphasized that access to devices is integral to unlocking digital literacy.
"That's why there's been an active effort to drive access to devices, whether it's a smartphone for citizens that are trying to access government services online, or even laptops and tablets for students in schools," the minister added.
Despite these efforts, Ingabire acknowledged that gaps remain in ensuring every student has access to a device both in Rwanda and across Africa. She emphasized that partnerships are crucial to reducing costs and scaling access.
The 2025 World Economic Forum will be concluded on Friday, January 24.
