UNESCO 2025 Forum: AI & Digital Transformation in the Public Sector

The UNESCO Conference on ‘Capacity Building on AI and Digital Transformation in the Public Sector’ will take place from 4–5 June in Paris to address capacity-building needs for public sector officials related to artificial intelligence (AI), digital technologies, and data governance. Over the course of two days, panels, keynotes and interactive sessions will bring together stakeholders to foster multi-stakeholder, multilateral digital cooperation and discuss how the global digital transformation can be advanced through capacity building of a key sector—civil servants.

Panel: ‘AI policy in practice: AI & data governance from the ground up’

June 5 | 12 AM–1 PM CEST | UNESCO Headquarters and online via livestream

Opening remarks by Yannik Sassmann from the Data Lab of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will set the scene for a panel discussion moderated by Deshni Govender from the FAIR Forward initiative. A highlight will be the launch of the AI Policy Playbook, which was jointly produced by the Africa-Asia AI Policymaker Network and GIZ.

François Fonteneau from PARIS21 and Maxwell Ababio from Ghana’s Data Protection Commission will explore inclusive and fair AI implementation in the public sector drawing on the AI Policy Playbook and a series of policy briefs produced by PARIS21. The conversation will invite questions from the floor so that participants can test the ideas against their own national contexts.

Join the Livestream here Conference Website

Hands-On Workshop: ‘The AI advantage: Smarter data, smarter decisions’

June 6 | half-day workshop | OECD Boulogne

The discussion will continue in a more hands-on format on 6 June 2025, when PARIS21 hosts the half-day workshop ‘The AI advantage: Smarter data, smarter decisions’ at the OECD premises in Boulogne, Paris. Guided by facilitators from PARIS21 and the BMZ Data Lab, policymakers will work through simulations, data-mapping exercises and generative-AI demonstrations designed to sharpen their evidence-informed decision-making skills.

Spots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Secure your spot here:

Workshop Registration