The Institute of Analytics’ (IoA) Dr Clare Walsh was amongst a British delegation of UK data and AI experts invited to the first-ever UK AI Week in Bangkok organised by the British Embassy Bangkok to showcase the UK’s global leadership in AI and promote UK-Thai collaboration. She was joined by representatives from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, The Alan Turing Institute and Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI. AI Week provided a forum for discussion about ethics, innovation and the potential of AI as a “force for good†to influence and support development of a responsible AI strategy in the country and Thailand’s goal of being a future leader in AI.
Discussions covered topics such as AI regulation and governance, investment strategies and the potential impact of AI across various sectors as well as the opportunities that ethical AI provides for the benefit of business and society.
The AI Week Reception, hosted by the British Embassy at the Ambassador’s residence, was an opportunity to bring together the delegation, UK experts and businesses, Thai government officials, members of the Digital Trade Network for Thailand, multilateral organisations including UNESCO and stakeholders from both countries to introduce the UK’s AI strategy and forge new relationships. The next day the delegates attended the launch of the UK’s Trade Digitalisation Pilot Project at Techsauce Global Summit with opening remarks from Natalie Black, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific.
Techsauce was a highlight of the week and included the delegation leading workshops on topics including AI in healthcare, public services and the development of an ethical national AI strategy to support advancing the AI agenda in Thailand. The UK experts also led discussions and joined panels alongside British businesses on issues such as climate tech and femtech. Techsauce was the perfect platform to showcase the UK’s AI expertise across such diverse sectors such as agriculture, finance, climate, design and cybersecurity and to encourage partnerships between the UK and Thailand.
Firstly, my heartfelt thanks must go to the British Embassy in Thailand for the amazing job they did hosting us – it was incredible from start to finish.
This was an incredible opportunity for myself and my peers to come together and share our expertise collaboratively, learn from one another together with the data teams we met in Bangkok, and contribute to the development of a responsible AI strategy in Thailand. Making the right choices now to support innovation and best practice built on ethical human and machine teaming, whilst coming together as a global community, is the key to creating a safe future for us all.Dr Clare Walsh, IoA Director of Education
With the rapid advances of AI, we stand at the intersection of technological evolution and a crucial moment for governance…We are glad to have experts from the UK to share their insights from different sectors with us today. We believe that to maximise the benefit of AI, international collaboration is critical to ensure the safe and reliable development of AI.
Boonyarat Kittivorawut, Country Director, Economics and Sustainable Development, British Embassy Bangkok
Learn more about UK AI Week from GOV.UK, the official website for the UK government
Other articles about UK AI Week include:
An emerging theme throughout the week was the need for governments and businesses alike to address the skills gap when it comes to incorporating responsible and ethical AI. Data touches practically every job and as more decisions are delegated to machines, there is a need to have enough trained people across the organisation who understand how AI can be used in a positive and beneficial way that considers everyone.
We developed a number of free resources to help you introduce responsible AI in your organisation:
This resource will help you gauge the data readiness of your organisation: Evaluating Your Organisational Readiness for Data Transformation
The IoA AI Essentials Tool Kit is focused training that was created to help build understanding about how decisions are made working with data and AI. The Tool Kit is for anyone – there is no prerequisite for data skills or intention to personally run analytics. Our goal in creating the Tool Kit is to help bring more people to the power of data-driven thought and make the best use of human and machine insights to guide and transform business and the world.
Access to the IoA AI Essentials Tool Kit is through IoA Membership, which provides further opportunities for upskilling whether you are in a data or non-data role.
There are two ways to join the IoA:
The Institute of Analytics (IoA) is a not-for-profit professional body for the analytics & data science community.
Our mission is to develop and promote the highest professional and ethical standards, create awareness of the value of data analytics and its uses in society and inspire the next generation of analysts & data scientists through education.
We help our members stay ahead of the curve of digital transformation through access to benefits including training and upskilling, updates about advancements in technology and regulation, masterclasses and thought leadership.
To find out more, email: hello@ioaglobal.org
