Municipal AI Governance

This application area focuses on how city and municipal governments design, implement, and operate the policies, processes, and structures that govern the use of AI across public services. Rather than building a single AI tool, it creates repeatable frameworks for project selection, risk assessment, procurement, ethics review, data management, and oversight of AI systems used in areas like transport, social services, permitting, and public safety. It often includes shared playbooks, national or regional coordination bodies, and standardized documentation and audit requirements. It matters because public-sector AI deployments carry heightened risks around rights, bias, transparency, and legal compliance, especially under regulations such as the EU AI Act. Cities typically lack in‑house expertise and risk fragmenting their efforts into ad‑hoc pilots heavily shaped by vendors. Municipal AI governance provides a structured way to experiment safely, build capacity, and align with regulation, while reducing duplication and dependency. It enables cities to modernize services with AI in a way that protects public trust and ensures accountability at scale.