AI REGULATIONS IN TUNISIA

 Tunisia has embarked on a comprehensive AI Roadmap also known as National AI Strategy of Tunisia, spanning from 2021 to 2025, overseen by the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, the National Research and Innovation Programme, and the High Authority for Public Procurement. This roadmap sets out ambitious objectives and proposes a detailed action plan for AI development in the country. The goals include raising awareness about AI’s challenges and possibilities, demystifying AI to facilitate its adoption, understanding its impact on job transformation and future skills, and addressing existing AI pitfalls. The roadmap also aims to strengthen the AI ecosystem by focusing on key pillars like developing AI skills, establishing necessary infrastructure (such as cloud and high-performance computing), adopting data policies, and promoting networking activities. Moreover, it includes plans to implement AI pilot projects in both public and private sectors, run open innovation initiatives, develop “research to industry” projects, and promote AI techniques

In addition to the roadmap, Tunisia is working on an Intellectual Property Policy for AI  since 2021, led by the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, and the Institut National de la Normalisation et de la Propriété Industrielle. This policy involves drafting amendments to intellectual property laws to enable the protection of algorithms as intellectual property, aligning with principles of human-centered values and fairness, as well as ensuring robustness, security, and safety in AI.

Furthermore, Tunisia has been actively implementing AI use cases in the public sector since 2019, under the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy. These use cases aim to showcase the practical applications of AI in the Tunisian public sector, aligning with OECD principles by investing in AI R&D, fostering a digital ecosystem for AI, and building human capacity to prepare for the transition in the labor market brought about by AI.