We were privileged to attend the World Governments Summit 2024 event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on February 12 to 14, 2024. It was a momentous gathering of more than 10,000 leaders, ministers, and experts from around the world—coming together to shape the future of governments and find innovative solutions for major challenges.
The themes of the summit included government acceleration and transformation, AI, economic development, sustainability, and global health. As leaders in Microsoft for Government, we were struck by how deeply technology has become intertwined with governance. This was especially true with AI, which was pervasive in almost every discussion. The energy and excitement were palpable, and at times it felt as though we were attending a technology forum.
Microsoft for Government
Empowering governments with technology to help solve society’s biggest challenges
Top-of-mind AI adoption concerns for governments worldwide
Across all interactions with attendees, we heard a broad range of perspectives around AI and its role in the future of governments. The potential value of AI was not at issue. Overall, participants regarded the advent of AI, especially generative AI, as a historical shift on par with the internet or the Industrial Revolution, and there was overwhelming interest in putting it to work broadly for the advancement of society.
We also heard a range of perspectives surrounding generative AI. Among the common themes and questions on the minds of government leaders were the following:
- Developing legislation and regulations: How can governments take action to ensure safe, fair, and responsible AI adoption without stifling innovation?
- Enabling inclusion: How can AI be infused throughout the world, and not just in wealthy societies, to create an inclusive and equitable environment based on the principles of privacy, trust, and transparency?
- Ensuring security: How can governments protect sensitive data and assets in a world where nation state actors and criminals are launching aggressive cyberattacks using AI?
- Ensuring digital sovereignty: How can data be made available to AI while still conforming to the laws and regulations of the specific country or region where it resides?
- Training government workforces: How can government employees get appropriate, effective learning resources to quickly embrace and leverage new AI skills?
Clearly, these issues span the broad domains of technology, regulation, and legal and political considerations. It will take broad, long-term partnership and collaboration from many quarters to ensure that AI is employed in ways that benefit everyone, with minimal negative impact.
How governments are getting started with AI innovation
Every government’s situation and challenges are unique, but there are some important principles for every leader and organization to bear in mind. First is understanding that data underpins AI innovation. It is not possible to reap the benefits of generative AI without a modern data strategy, one that integrates diverse data sources, ensures data quality, establishes rules and processes for data access and management, and keeps data and systems secure.
This is why governments are increasingly recognizing that embracing AI requires migrating to the cloud. A modern platform, such as the Microsoft Cloud, provides the rich data services and hyperscale compute capabilities required to enable AI, plus the important security and compliance benefits that are built in.
With a strong cloud foundation, governments can start early innovation with AI. This begins by defining clear objectives that address an important, manageable priority. From there, a good first step is to build a limited use case using tools such as Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, which let you test, learn, and iterate.
According to IDC, 64% of governments worldwide are in the early stages of exploring generative AI proof-of-concepts and use cases, with about half of those making significant investments. The top investments for state, regional, and local governments over the next 18 months are focused on supporting employees. Also essential for governments are programs to help train and hire for generative AI expertise, and working with trusted cloud providers who can deliver the scale and responsible partnership required for success.
Microsoft’s responsibility in the era of AI
Responsible AI has long been a cornerstone of Microsoft’s leadership in cloud and AI. Our recognition of the need for a global agreement on responsible AI and cybersecurity was articulated by Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith in his 2017 call for “The need for a Digital Geneva Convention.” Our commitment was further defined in the June 2022 Microsoft Responsible AI Standard, which defines a set of principles for responsible AI and offers a set of processes that governments can use to build their own governance frameworks and controls.
In an October 2023 update prepared for the United Kingdom AI Safety Summit, Microsoft’s AI Safety Policies were explained in depth. Also, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2024, Brad Smith discussed Microsoft’s AI Access Principles, detailing our role and responsibility as an AI innovator and a market leader, and our commitments to promote innovation and competition in the new AI economy. As more than 4 billion people in over 40 countries prepare to vote, Microsoft announced at the Munich Security Conference that it has joined a group of 20 leading technology companies to help combat the deceptive use of AI in 2024 elections.
Our experience at the World Governments Summit illuminated the sheer magnitude of the challenge of bringing AI to life for governments in ways that are fair, safe, equitable, and ultimately net-positive for all. It is a monumental challenge, which no single company, government, or entity can fully address. We are proud of Microsoft’s leadership in responsible AI, and we also recognize that there is much work yet to be done, and we cannot go at it alone.
Looking forward
For insights and assistance in moving forward with confidence, we invite government leaders to reach out to their Microsoft representative or technology partner. For a complete view of Microsoft’s commitments to responsible AI, see how we are empowering responsible AI practices.
Kostas is a leader in shaping industry strategy for Microsoft in EMEA, focusing on activating field teams and fostering strong relationships with government stakeholders. Since joining Microsoft 20 years ago, Kostas has held a number of leadership roles across geographies to help customers tackle their most demanding challenges and achieve more.
Madhavi is responsible for communicating the value proposition of Microsoft solutions for Government customers. She works with internal strategic teams to align company offerings to help Governments solve society’s biggest challenges. Since joining Microsoft in 2011, she has held a variety of roles focused on driving revenue growth, improving efficiencies, and streamlining operations.
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