Support research on Caribbean artificial intelligence readiness

Details

Mission and objectives

The Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre (CKMC) supports the research mandate and work of the ECLAC/CDCC secretariat and provides reference and information services in this regard. It is located within the office of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to library and information technology services, the Centre is also responsible for work programme activities in the areas of knowledge management and information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D). The work programme activities have in recent year focused on research related to digital public goods, digital inclusion and artificial intelligence from the Caribbean perspective.

Context

The assignment will contribute to furthering the organization’s objectives in supporting the efforts of Caribbean countries and territories to use information and communications technologies for sustainable development. The research completed will feed into a study on Caribbean artificial intelligence readiness, that aims to provide policymakers and decision makers in the Caribbean with information on the various enablers that may help to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies contribute positively to sustainable development, and their current position in relation to those enablers. The study is intended to be short and exploratory, and will provide basic information, from a subregional perspective, on artificial intelligence readiness, and outline some possible ways forward. We anchor our work in the overall principle of the 2030 Agenda to “leave no one behind” and SDG 10 “reduce inequality within and among countries”.

Task description

We are looking for seven Online Volunteers who have experience in research with excellent writing skills. The research conducted will feed into a forthcoming study on the artificial intelligence readiness of the Caribbean. The study will be based on existing research and data from a large variety of sources, and summarize the information along seven categories of readiness, namely:
1. Strategic readiness: Policy instruments, declarations and strategies on AI
2. Regulatory readiness: Laws and regulations on AI, cybersecurity and privacy
3. Government readiness: Public sector characteristics, e-government, trust in government
4. Population readiness: Digital skills, STEM and ICT graduates, AI PhDs, brain drain.
5. Technological readiness: Data centres, cloud services, compute capacity, supply chains, investment.
6. Private sector readiness: Technology sector, AI companies, AI use by companies, views on AI in companies.
7. Data readiness: Open data, data gaps, data policies, statistical capacity
The task will include the following responsibilities:
– Discuss and determine parameters for the research
– Identify and gather sources
– Conduct research
– Draft approximately 5 pages summarizing the findings of the research
– Prepare up to 2 charts relevant to the research conducted
The average estimated workload is expected to include roughly reviewing 3 databases for Caribbean data and 5 documents (these can include articles, studies, etc.) per section throughout the assignment duration. The output may include figures or tables.
The Online Volunteers will have the opportunity to build connections with experts working with ICT for development issues at the Subregional Headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Volunteers will learn about how research on artificial intelligence can support the sustainable development of the Caribbean region.
Each volunteer will be responsible for research on one category of readiness. The categories will be distributed among the volunteers based on interest and past experience.