The World Economic Forum has released a new report outlining how AI can drive inclusive economic growth and societal progress.
While AI has the power to reshape economies and societies, ensuring that its benefits are shared equitably remains a major challenge globally. The report offers strategies for leaders to address equity concerns, tailor artificial intelligence to local needs, and drive sustainable, long-term economic growth for all.
The report – Blueprint for Intelligent Economies – developed in collaboration with KPMG, outlines nine strategic objectives designed to support every stage of the AI journey from innovation, development, deployment, and adoption at the national, regional, and global levels. Part of the Forum’s AI Competitiveness through Regional Collaboration Initiative, the report addresses disparities in AI access, infrastructure, advanced computing, and skills. It provides actionable insights and showcases successful case studies to inform efforts by governments – at all AI maturity levels – and other key stakeholders to promote more inclusive and resilient AI ecosystems worldwide.
“Leveraging AI for economic growth and societal progress is a shared goal yet countries and regions have very different starting points,” says Cathy Li, head of AI, Data and the Metaverse at the World Economic Forum. “This blueprint serves as a compass, guiding decision-makers toward impact-oriented collaboration and practical solutions that can unlock AI’s full potential.”
Designing national and regional AI strategies that actively involve all stakeholders – governments, businesses, entrepreneurs, civil society, and users – is critical for addressing local needs. The report advocates for AI strategies that are supported by high-level leadership and developed in close collaboration with local communities. This approach can help address key issues like responsible governance, data privacy, and the local impact of AI policies on innovation and investment.
“The significant potential of AI remains largely untapped in many regions worldwide. Establishing an inclusive and competitive AI ecosystem will become a crucial priority for all nations,” says Solly Malatsi, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies of South Africa. “Collaboration among multiple stakeholders at the national, regional, and global levels will be essential in fostering growth and prosperity through AI for everyone.”
The Blueprint for Intelligent Economies draws from global expertise and provides tailored frameworks for nations at varying stages of AI development. While every region faces unique challenges, the blueprint emphasises the importance of adapting successful solutions from elsewhere. For example, regional frameworks for sharing AI infrastructure and energy resources can help overcome national resource limitations, while centralised databanks can create inclusive local datasets that reflect the needs of diverse communities. Public-private subsidies can also widen access to affordable AI-ready devices, helping local innovators adopt AI technologies and scale their operations.
“All nations have a unique opportunity to advance their economic and societal progress through AI,” says Hatem Dowidar, CEO of E&. “This requires a collaborative approach of intentional leadership from governments supported by active engagement with all stakeholders at all stages of the AI journey. Regional and global collaborations remain fundamental pathways to address shared challenges and opportunities, ensure equitable access to key AI capabilities, and responsibly maximise its transformative potential for a lasting value for all.”
Top three strategic objectives
The report outlines nine strategic objectives to drive an effective AI strategy, but identifies and breaks down the following three as the most important for national AI programmes globally:
- Building sustainable AI infrastructure – Developing and delivering sustainable and resilient AI infrastructure is essential to unlocking the growth potential of intelligent economies. However, creating scalable, secure, and environmentally responsible systems will require significant investment and energy use – and intensified cross-sector collaboration.
- Curating diverse and high-quality datasets – Data is crucial for developing equitable, accurate, and fair AI models, but various data-related challenges exist including data accessibility, imbalance, and ownership. To counter this, data must be available, diverse, inclusive, and of high quality to reflect the needs, characteristics, and cultures of a population and their languages
- Establishing robust ethical and safety guardrails – Robust frameworks for AI are essential for ensuring that technology benefits society while reducing risks. Establishing standards preventing misuse, bias, and ethical breaches will be critical and help foster trust in AI and promote its responsible development and use.
The report presents a multi-layered blueprint to advance the strategic objectives through collaborative initiatives at the national, regional, and global levels. The foundational layer focuses on sustainable energy, responsible AI infrastructure, diverse data curation, and efficient investment channels. The second layer drives growth across sectors by embedding AI in workflows and devices, fostering innovation, and accelerating sectoral adoption. The third layer prioritises people – emphasising skill development, workforce empowerment, and ethical frameworks to guide AI’s societal impact.
The report also highlights the crucial role of collaboration between the public and private sectors in accelerating AI adoption worldwide. By implementing supportive policies and incentivising innovation and continuous learning programmes, governments can unlock AI’s potential as a powerful engine for growth and enable workers across the world to thrive in AI-powered Intelligent Age.
Building on the vision of greater AI access, the AI Governance Alliance is launching Regional AI Activation Networks to deliver tailored, on-the-ground programmes designed to enhance AI capabilities. These initiatives will address local challenges, foster resilient AI value chains, enhance local AI ecosystem participation, and promote regional efforts on data governance in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Programmes will be developed through a regional multistakeholder platform throughout 2025.