What happened
UNESCO, in collaboration with Bangladesh's ICT Division, a2i, UNDP and the European Union, published a national AI readiness assessment applying UNESCO's Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM). It evaluates preparedness to implement UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of AI across five dimensions — legal and regulatory, social and cultural, scientific and educational, economic, and technical and infrastructural — based on desk research and consultations with government, academia, civil society and the private sector. The report presents 15 actionable recommendations spanning regulation, institutional frameworks and capacity building, aimed at strengthening AI governance, addressing digital divides, building skills and improving access to data and infrastructure.
Why it matters
For executives and policy teams operating in or investing in South Asia, it is a concrete benchmark of how a large emerging market is operationalising ethical AI governance and where regulatory capacity gaps sit.
Action needed
Use the report's five-dimension RAM structure and 15 recommendations as a comparative checklist when assessing AI-governance readiness of markets in the region.