Speaker
Description
The convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) gave birth to the now Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). These innovative initiatives have both envisaged benefits and concerns. Among the grey areas around these emerging technologies is how to regulate and address ethical issues that may arise as a result of their adoption and use thereof. This research will advocate a guiding framework for policy makers, to aid in the decision-making processes on ethical issues that may be raised regarding AIoT. The research findings will help the public, private, and civic sectors to understand the myriad issues around AIoT and guiding procedures which they can employ to navigate such issues in all-inclusive and democratic governance. There are long-standing developmental issues in the field of ICTs and sustainable development in most of the developing countries, and such issues are creating a rift between governments and the private sector as they lament the speed at which technology is advancing and the slow pace at which laws are enacted. The exponential growth of technology demands the need to foster cross-pollination of ideas through NRENs between policy makers and academics, so as to bridge the gap between law formulation and technological advancements. This research will focus on future considerations of AIoT policy implementations in five southern African countries as per the demarcation of UN’s territories namely: - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Eswatini. The selection is mainly informed on the basis that, the countries are already sharing a common interest that involves guiding principles – SACU and also purposely sampled by the size of the region. On the other hand, the selection of Southern African countries will be opportune as all of them have the potential to navigate the emergence of new technologies and incorporate such in their policy and frameworks as they push towards realizing their respective NDPs and SDGs. The fact that most of these countries have recently or are about to host their elections within this year, may help in following the policy implementations and adjustments if any by their respective governments. The role that multilateral organizations such as the UN can play in supporting such policies with particular focus on AIoT, which could be triangulated to other developing countries.
