All About EU AI Act: The World's 1st Legal Framework for Artificial Intelligence

On March 13, 2024, the European Parliament adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) that was proposed by the European Commission on April 21, 2021, and it is expected to enter into force at the end of the legislature in May.

The EU's AI Act is the first comprehensive legal framework for AI in the world, establishing rules on data quality, transparency, human oversight, and accountability across the Europe. The act also aims to ensure that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety, and ethical principles, and address risks of very powerful AI models.

The AI Act divides technology into categories of risk hazards — Unacceptable, High, Medium, and Low. Technology that is considered "unacceptable" will be banned. The act also aims to guarantee the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses when it comes to AI, and strengthen uptake, investment, and innovation in AI across the EU.

Below're some prominent features of the AI Act:

Risk-Based Approach: The Act classifies AI systems based on the risk they pose, ranging from 'unacceptable' risks, which are banned, to 'high-risk' systems, which are authorized but subject to strict requirements.

Fundamental Rights: The Act ensures that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety, and ethical principles.

Annex III: This annex is crucial as it lists AI applications that must comply with most of the Act's requirements.

Effect on The Global Technology Landscape

The EU AI Act is expected to have a significant impact on countries around the globe, similar to the influence of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Here are some ways it could affect other nations:

Global Standard: The EU AI Act may set a new global standard for AI regulation, influencing other countries to adopt similar measures. 

Tech Companies Compliance: Global tech companies operating in the EU will need to comply with the Act, which could lead to changes in their AI systems worldwide.

Innovation and Regulation Balance: The Act aims to balance innovation with robust regulation, which could serve as a model for other countries looking to regulate AI without stifling technological advancement. 

Global Digital Rule-Maker: The EU's role as a global digital rule-maker could be strengthened, potentially leading to a broader adoption of its regulatory framework.

Risk Awareness: The Act raises awareness of the risks associated with AI applications, which could influence global discourse and policy-making.

Overall, the EU AI Act could redefine the tech landscape by setting precedents for AI governance that other countries might follow.

Online PG Diploma on Cyber Law, Crime Investigation and Digital Forensics Launched by National e-Governance Division and NLIU Bhopal

National e-Governance Division (NeGD) in partnership with National Law Institute University, Bhopal, launched an Online PG Diploma programme on ‘Cyber Law, Crime Investigation & Digital Forensics’ on 9th November 2020, at 2:00 PM.

This initiative will offer a nine-month Online PG Diploma Course in Cyber Law, Crime Investigation & Digital Forensics to about 1000 officials through NeGD’s Digital Learning Management System (LMS) in collaboration with NLIU Bhopal under the “Digital India Programme”.The goal of this Programme is to enable Police Officers, State Cyber Cells, Law Enforcement Agencies, Prosecutors and Judicial Officers to acquire the requisite skills to deal with Cyber Forensics cases efficiently & effectively as per the Indian Cyber Law while adopting global best practices, standards and guidelines. A Cyber Forensics Lab is being established in the premises of National Law University (NLU) Delhi for facilitating this course. Other law schools/ universities like National Law School of India University (Bangalore), Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (Patiala) etc., will also be involved in the Programme in future.

The Virtual event was launched by Shri Ajay Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in presence of eminent dignitaries- Shri Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, Secretary, Ministry of Law, Govt. of India, Shri M S Rao, Chief Secretary and State Vigilance Commissioner, Govt. of Meghalaya, Hon’ble Justice G Raghuram (Retd.), Dr. Gulshan Rai, Former National Cyber Security Coordinator & Chairman (PRSG), Govt. of India, Prof. (Dr.) V Vijayakumar, Vice-Chancellor, National Law Institute University, Bhopal and Shri Abhishek Singh, President & CEO, NeGD and CEO, MyGov India.

Shri Abhishek Singh, IAS, P&CEO, NeGD, and CEO, MyGov India gave the background on evolution of the Programme since its inception. He elaborated that the programme was heterogeneous with participation from Judges, Officers from Police and the Customs, Judicial and Prosecution officers. Shri Singh added that the Programme featured over 100 hours of content developed by key stakeholders. A total of 542 participants has been received for which the breakup details are as follows.

Participants Details
District and Sessions Judge/ Judicial Magistrate/ Civil Judge	55
Public Prosecutors/ Asst. Public Prosecutors	41
Police Officers (ADG/IG/DIG/AIG/SP/Inspector)	285
Officers from Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics Bureau through NACIN	148
Others (including MeitY, NIA, SVPNPA, NeGD)	13
Total Received nominations	542

Shri M S Rao-Chief Secretary and State Vigilance Commissioner-Govt of Meghalaya complimented MeitY, NeGD, NLIU, Bhopal, National Judicial Academy and said that this course will be extremely useful to the Law Enforcement Agencies. He added that in the times of the pandemic, there had been an increase of nearly 60% in Cyber cases between 2018 and 2019. He elaborated that one of the positive fallouts of COVID-19 was increase in use of Digital Technology; he said that this however, had led to a rise in the number of cybercrime cases and highlighted the following challenges:

• Fraudulent and Fake Business Transactions
• Obscene Content & Defamation
• Fake News

Shri Rao said that location and identification of Cybercriminals was an issue along with delayed response from Service Providers; lack of timely information hampers investigation; location of data in servers outside the country etc. He added that knowledge, technology and tools were much needed to cope with increased sophistication in cybercrime. In his concluding remarks, Shri Rao added that in addition to use of Technologies and Capacity Building, creating general awareness among citizens were critical drivers for this Programme.

Dr.Vijaykumar-Vice-Chancellor-NLIU-Bhopal said that business dynamics and technology challenges played a major role in handling Cybercrime Cases which has been the major driver in designing the course in collaboration with Experts and Academia along with NeGD.

Hon’ble Justice Raghuram-Director, National Judicial Academy said that Investigational expertise along with well-trained prosecutors and requirement of Higher technical education and cpntinuouscapacibity building of Judges was much needed to handle Cybercrimes. Dr Gulshan Rai- Ex-National Cyber Security Co-ordinator-PMO emphasized that  the course has been designed to maintain the balance of Technology and the importance of practical scenarios.

Secretary- Ministry of Law - Anoop Kumar Mendritta emphasized the increased participation of Prosecution and Judicial officers and need to move towards Data Investigation from Data Governance to increase the Disposal Rate. He said that 22% of cases are disposed of due to lack of evidence with high pendency and low conviction rate which requires increased participation. He pointed out that there was a complete mismatch between Investigation and Judicial officers which will be addressed by creating a pool of Digital forensic Experts and increased Academic collaboration.

Secretary-MeitY-Shri Ajay Sawhneyinaugurated the Programme and said that this Dream Curriculum is a first of its kind designed after consultation with many experts in collaboration with Academia and a state-of-the-art Forensic lab playing a role in imparting skillsets to all officers and this was just the beginning of Skill and Capacity Building in Cybercrime in future.

NeGD has developed a Learning Management System (LMS) under its Capacity Building Scheme, which caters to the needs and requirements of learning and development of government departments envisaged in the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (‘NPCSCB’) – “Mission Karmayogi.”