Bulgaria: Public Sector dimension of AI Strategy

Introduction

This page reports a synthesis of the main elements that characterise the national AI strategy with a specific focus on the public sector. It extracts the information related to a single country from a comparative analysis done by the AI Watch team and reported in full in the science for policy report “AI Watch. European Landscape on the Use of Artificial Intelligence by the Public Sector”.

Main highlights

Focus on public services are a key area for implementing AI
More investments from the public and the private sector are needed
Improve access to public data
Facilitate financial instruments, consulting, infrastructure for testing AI
Participate in European research and innovation programmes
Develop Digital innovation Hubs
Improvement of awareness of the benefits and risks of AI

Strategy analysis

Learning by doing	Regulatory Sandboxes
Stimulating awareness and knowledge sharing	Awareness campaigns Building an international community
Ethical and legal framework	Development of ethical frameworks Reform of data sharing laws
Improving data access and quality	Improving data quality Improving data access
Funding and procurement	Funding for AI projects Stimulation of GovTech startups
Improving internal capacity	n/a

Comment

Access to public data to allow the creation of AI products and services for businesses, the public sector and academia are seen as a key priority. Hence, investments should be done in improving the data spaces, data sharing architectures, data management mechanisms and achieving interoperability of public data and information systems.

Digital Innovation Hubs are also seen as an important component for improving the research and innovation ecosystem of Bulgaria, but also to act as a hub to allow the dissemination of AI technologies to businesses, public administrations, and citizens.

The development and use of AI should be carried out responsibly, and effective public dialogue is a key factor to help create trust and sustainable policies to do so. Hence, awareness campaigns will be launched to provide information about the use of AI with different target groups – including public service institutions.

General Information

Title

Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Bulgaria until 2030

Data of release

Dec 2020

Specific actions to public sector

Chapter 4.5.: Introducing AI-based innovation in key sectors, public sector is one of them
Chapter 6: The use of AI technologies in public services can be expanded and deepened, because the country has qualified specialists and experience in all of the above AI technologies.