On 21 April the European Commission presented the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), a draft regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure AI is safe, lawful and in line with EU fundamental rights. What will be the legal impact of the regulation on cities as providers and users of both public and private AI applications? Instead of looking at the founding principles, this webinar sets out to understand the practical impact of the proposed regulation and how it will affect cities.

Practical information

Date: Thursday, 16 December 2021

Time: 10:00 – 11:30

Venue: Online event

Access: Living-in.EU signatories will receive the link by email and anyone else who wishes to attend should email cnect-smart-communities@ec.europa.eu

Agenda

10:00 – 10:05              Opening

10:05 – 10:25              Commission’s perspective on the impact and practical examples (Yordanka Ivanova, Legal and
                                    policy officer European Commission, CNECT A2, AI Policy Development and Coordination)

10:25 – 10:40              City’s perspective: Key questions (Federica Bordelot, Eurocities AIA TF)

10:40 – 10:55              Expert reflection and suggestions (Luca Bolognini, president Italian Institute
                                    for Privacy and Data Valorisation)

10:55 – 11:05              LI EU Technical group: MIM5 – Fair AI (Michael Mulquin, MIMs Ambassador Open & Agile Smart Cities)

11:05 – 11:25              Q&A and open discussion

11:25 – 11:30              Following up and closing

Context

Cities are increasingly turning to the potential of Artificial Intelligence to develop services for citizens and to improve policy making. It is an enabler of change for local governments, and it is already transforming the governance of the city and society. Public administrations increase efficiency and productivity while reducing costs through automation of processes and tasks. City governments use algorithms and machine learning applications to predict service demand and anticipate urban problems, improve decision making and the delivery of more and innovative public services[1].

The Commission’s proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) follows the February 2020 White Paper on AI and the subsequent stakeholder consultation. With the proposal, the Commission aims to ensure that the AI applications that are commercialized on the single market are trustworthy and respect existing laws and fundamental rights. The proposal takes a horizontal approach, regulating different AI applications by classifying them according to the risk they pose for fundamental rights. This approach aims to protect the rights of citizens and consumers while trying not to place excessive costs on all of AI solutions and stifling innovation.

The AIA has a wide scope and includes a range of obligations and responsibilities for the providers and users of Artificial Intelligence. What does this mean for cities? What will be the practical impact of the AIA for local administrations?

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[1] Eurocities response to EU’s white paper on AI ‘People-centred Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cities’, https://eurocities.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/EUROCITIES_statement_on_AI_final.pdf