In November 2024, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an own opinion on the Challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the public sector: defining the role of regional and local authorities. The rapporteur for this opinion was Alberto CIRIO (IT/EPP), President of the Piedmont region, and newly elected chair of the commission for economic policy.

With this opinion, the CoR acknowledges that AI will have a big impact on the relationship between public authorities and citizens. AI can offer real opportunities for progress and well-being if used in a transparent, traceable and neutral manner.

What can local and regional authorities use AI for?

• To provide faster and more accurate responses to citizens' requests, including in real time
• To facilitate access to information and services, especially during peak hours
• To automate some decision-making processes
• To automate some administrative procedures, for instance verifying submitted documents, thus speeding up the processing of requests
• To assess and anticipate risks in the areas of cybersecurity, financial monitoring and addressing territorial vulnerabilities
• To anticipate failures of equipment and systems while enhancing their resilience
• To ensure automatic interoperability of systems and data between public and private actors

What are the main recommendations of the report?

Number one is to recognise that local and regional authorities are key actors in the adoption of AI across the EU. As the level of public administration closest to citizens and as providers of many services, they can promote the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies in different sectors: energy efficiency, transport, education, health and other public services. 

It is important to adopt an approach that maximises the benefits of AI for citizens and administrations, rather than focus exclusively on risk prevention. Of course, we need to ensure ethical use of AI, transparency and accountability, and ongoing human supervision.

The CoR welcomes the AI Act, which sets clear standards within a uniform legal framework for the use of AI systems in the EU to promote human-centred and reliable AI. It stresses, however, that adopting a common legislative framework is not enough. The EU needs to provide guidelines for regional and local governments on implementing the Act. It should also develop a comprehensive programme to increase citizens’ awareness, education and training that is continuously updated taking into account technological progress. Without this, Europe’s approach to AI will be incomplete.

The CoR highlights the need to avoid an ‘AI gap’ between public administrations that are able to understand, master and make use of these technologies and those that are not.

The Opinion recommends to monitor the experience and good practices of local and regional authorities in AI adoption through studies and stakeholder consultations, and even suggests setting up an observatory to collect, publish and disseminate key indicators and statistics on AI uptake and implementation at local and regional level.

A very concrete recommendation to the European Commission is to establish an ‘Erasmus+ AI’ programme for civil servants and elected local and regional representatives to facilitate international exchanges focused on AI projects.

Another concrete recommendation is to create a European conformity certification system for AI tools used in the public administrations  to ensure that these AI systems comply with European legislation, minimising risks for governments and citizens. This certification system should be managed in coordination between national authorities and the European AI Office, thus ensuring reliable and unambiguous standards across the EU.

What can local and regional authorities do?

• The EU should set up dedicated legal spaces or so-called regulatory sandboxes at EU or national level to allow suppliers to conduct comprehensive testing of their AI systems before market placement. Local and regional authorities can support SMEs and startups to access these sandboxes easily. They can do that through targeted communication campaigns to SMEs and start-ups in their territory, or by enabling them to connect electronically to the various sandboxes.
• Local and regional authorities need to recruit specialists and/or train public sector staff to be able to exploit the full potential of AI and manage risks properly.
• Local and regional authorities should work with academia, research and technology centres, the private sector and other stakeholders to exchange knowledge, experiences and best practices to promote joint projects and common solutions.
• When they deploy AI systems, local and regional authorities need to set up IT control systems and train operators to enhance protection against cyberattacks and protection of personal data and individuals’ fundamental rights.
• Local and regional authorities can adapt the AI-powered solutions to the specific needs of citizens and territories. They can involve citizens in AI policy making by, for example, creating participatory platforms, organising town hall meetings, online forums or citizens advisory boards.
• Responsible authorities should develop specific ethical guidelines and governance frameworks for the use of AI in the public sector at local and regional level.
• The success of AI depends on the availability and quality of data. Local and regional authorities should develop robust data management strategies and actively participate in common European data spaces.
• Local and regional governments should activate the available EU funding for AI adoption,
  for example under cohesion policy, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe and the Technical Support Instrument.

You can download the full report here.