AI Watch - National strategies on Artificial Intelligence: A European perspective, 2021 edition

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world in many aspects. It is essential for Europe to consider how to make the most of the opportunities from this transformation and to address its challenges. In 2018 the European Commission adopted the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence that was developed together with the Member States to maximise the impact of investments at European Union (EU) and national levels, and to encourage synergies and cooperation across the EU. One of the key actions towards these aims was an encouragement for the Member States to develop their national AI strategies.The review of national strategies is one of the tasks of AI Watch launched by the European Commission to support the implementation of the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence. Building on the 2020 AI Watch review of national strategies, this report presents an updated review of national AI strategies from the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland. By June 2021, 20 Member States and Norway had published national AI strategies, while 7 Member States were in the final drafting phase. Since the 2020 release of the AI Watch report, additional Member States - i.e. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain - published strategies, while Cyprus, Finland and Germany have revised the initial strategies. This report provides an overview of national AI policies according to the following policy areas: Human capital, From the lab to the market, Networking, Regulation, and Infrastructure. These policy areas are consistent with the actions proposed in the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence and with the policy recommendations to governments contained in the OECD Recommendation on AI. The report also includes a section on AI policies to address societal challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. The collection of AI policies is conducted jointly by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the OECD’s Science Technology and Innovation Directorate, while the analyses presented in this report are carried out by the JRC, with contributions from the OECD. Both institutions joined forces to ensure that the information supplied by AI Watch and the OECD AI Policy Observatory is harmonised, consistent and up to date. This report is based on the EC-OECD database of national AI policies, validated by Member States’ representatives, and it demonstrates the importance of working closely with relevant stakeholders to share lessons learned, good practices and challenges when shaping AI policies.