Readiness Assessment Methodology
The RAM is a key tool to support Member States in their implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI.
By providing detailed and comprehensive insights into different dimensions of AI readiness, it helps highlight any institutional and regulatory gaps and enables UNESCO to tailor support for governments to fill those gaps, in order to ensure an ethical AI ecosystem in line with the Recommendation.
In this way, it complements the Ethical Impact Assessment tool, which provides a micro-level perspective on the ethical impacts of particular AI systems.
The Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) includes a range of quantitative and qualitative questions designed to gather information about different dimensions related to a country’s AI ecosystem, including the legal and regulatory, social and cultural, economic, scientific and educational, and technological and infrastructural dimensions.
Each dimension features a series of quantitative and qualitative assessment questions, setting the RAM apart from other existing readiness assessment tools.
The implementation of the RAM is adapted to the unique circumstances and characteristics of the country, as well as the budget available for the project. The RAM is expected to be carried out by an independent consultant or research organization, supported by a national team comprising a variety of stakeholders, such as personnel from the UNESCO Secretariat and UNESCO National Commission, as well as representatives from the country’s government, the academic community, civil society and the private sector, among others.
In addition to the completion of the RAM questionnaire itself, the final output of the RAM exercise includes the creation of a country report that provides a comprehensive overview of the status of AI readiness in the country, summarising where the country stands on each dimension, detailing ongoing activities, summing up the state of the art, and providing concrete policy recommendations on how to address governance gaps. This report helps identify in detail what institutional changes are required to elaborate or bolster national AI strategy and allow UNESCO to tailor capacity-building efforts to the specific needs of the country.
