Regions and cities should take the lead in utilising AI to improve public services for citizens and enterprises

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) increasingly shapes the digital landscape, local and regional authorities stand at the forefront of harnessing its transformative potential to meet the needs of citizens. Recognising the pivotal role of AI in advancing both the green and digital transitions, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion during the plenary session on 21 October, calling for robust public awareness, education, and training programmes to avoid an "AI gap" between well-resourced and under-served regions.

AI systems have the potential to improve public-sector efficiency and support regions and cities to respond to the adjustments that need to take place at local and regional level in the context of the green and digital transitions, the CoR argues. The opinion says that local and regional authorities (LRAs), uniquely positioned closest to its citizens, could play a key role in harnessing AI’s potential and promoting responsible AI deployment in areas such as urban planning, energy efficiency, healthcare, and transportation.  

In the opinion, CoR members called for LRAs to lead in the responsible deployment of AI, focusing on areas where the technology can directly improve citizens’ lives. By fostering cross-border collaboration and creating AI ecosystems that integrate academia, private sectors, and SMEs, LRAs can accelerate innovation and develop tailored solutions for local needs.

Local and regional leaders underlined that AI's rapid evolution brings both opportunities and challenges for public administrations and citizens. With the EU’s AI Act establishing a unified support for responsible AI use, the CoR opinion highlights that AI adoption requires public awareness, education, and skills training to ensure a complete and balanced approach. CoR members also stressed the need to avoid an "AI gap" between administrations that can effectively leverage these technologies and those that cannot, a divide that could be intensified by geographical and socio-economic factors.

In the opinion, CoR members emphasised that maximising AI's benefits for citizens should remain central while balancing risk mitigation and advocated for data protection and anti-discrimination standards in AI use, particularly in law enforcement, to protect citizens' rights. They also urged the involvement of citizens in AI policymaking through participatory platforms, town hall meetings, and advisory boards. CoR members called for better AI training for public sector employees and proposed an “Erasmus+ AI” program to exchange best practices internationally. They emphasised digital literacy and AI education from primary school through adult education to ensure AI benefits reach all, especially vulnerable groups.

Quote: 

Rapporteur Alberto CIRIO (IT/EPP), President of Piemonte region: “While each and every one of us is already living in an AI-shaped environment, it is extremely important to recall that there’s nothing magic behind it, but human creativity, curiosity and, most of all, control and goals. If European and national frameworks give to AI systems a solid set of rules, it comes to regional and local authorities to go on the ground by using them to deliver better services in an easier and faster way, enhancing citizens’ confidence towards these tools and pushing innovators to explore new solutions to existing and future challenges for both cities and rural areas.”

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In August 2024, the AI Act as the first-ever comprehensive European legal framework on AI came into force to support the development of trustworthy AI at EU level. The aim of the new rules is to ensure that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety, and ethical principles and by addressing risks of very powerful and impactful AI models as AI systems are now increasingly being deployed.