Working Groups At The AI Impact Summit / Inclusion for Social Empowerment
Inclusion for Social Empowerment Working Group
Advancing AI systems that are inclusive by design, empowering diverse communities and ensuring equitable representation.
About The Working Group
AI technologies hold immense potential for uplifting all sections of society, including communities that have faced difficulties in being able to meaningfully participate in social and economic development. The Inclusion for Social Empowerment thematic working group aims to enable the development and adoption of inclusive AI for social empowerment of all, ensuring no one is left behind.
Vision & Objectives
Building an equitable global AI ecosystem
The Inclusion for Social Empowerment Working Group will explore pathways that can be used to ensure AI can act as a catalyst for social empowerment. Its focus is to enable participation, expand opportunity, and unlock human potential across languages, abilities, geographies, and cultures. It will centre solutions, capacity building, and scalable models that deliver tangible benefits for all, especially underserved communities.
Leadership
Mr Rajesh Aggarwal
India Co-Chair
Secretary, Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India
Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal is currently serving as Secretary for the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD). Across multiple roles at a federal and state level, he has championed the use of technology to improve governance, playing a foundational role in the creation and improvement of the Digilocker, Jeevan Praman and other significant e-governance programmes. Mr. Aggarwal also has a distinguished track record in making public services and infrastructure accessible for persons with disabilities, including ensuring government websites and public spaces are inclusive for all.
Switzerland
Country Co-Chair
Switzerland is advancing inclusive, people-centred AI by pairing federal AI strategies and accessibility-by-design standards with open data infrastructure and multilingual public-service tools that make digital services usable across languages, abilities and regions. It also backs inclusive building blocks such as open, multilingual model efforts with public research partners and international access-to-compute initiatives, so that researchers, SMEs and humanitarian actors can develop AI that broadens access and opportunity.
Switzerland is advancing inclusive, people-centred AI by pairing federal AI strategies and accessibility-by-design standards with open data infrastructure and multilingual public-service tools that make digital services usable across languages, abilities and regions. It also backs inclusive building blocks such as open, multilingual model efforts with public research partners and international access-to-compute initiatives, so that researchers, SMEs and humanitarian actors can develop AI that broadens access and opportunity.
Nigeria
Country Co-Chair
Nigeria is advancing inclusive, people-centred AI by pairing a new National AI Strategy and robust data-rights safeguards with large-scale skilling (3MTT) and operational hubs like NITDA’s National Centre for AI & Robotics (NCAIR) to bring AI into public services in ways that reflect local needs. It also backs inclusive building blocks, including indigenous-language LLM initiatives and collaborations with research communities, so that developers, SMEs and humanitarian actors can build AI that works in Nigeria’s languages and contexts.
Nigeria is advancing inclusive, people-centred AI by pairing a new National AI Strategy and robust data-rights safeguards with large-scale skilling (3MTT) and operational hubs like NITDA’s National Centre for AI & Robotics (NCAIR) to bring AI into public services in ways that reflect local needs. It also backs inclusive building blocks, including indigenous-language LLM initiatives and collaborations with research communities, so that developers, SMEs and humanitarian actors can build AI that works in Nigeria’s languages and contexts.
Key Issues
Understanding the global AI divide and our approach to bridging it
The Challenge
Translating potential AI-driven benefits into tangible outcomes depends on the readiness of deployers and users to effectively manage and use the technology. This means providing relevant AI literacy, awareness and training to not just beneficiaries, but those who ensure they are available to the beneficiaries – such as last-mile field workers, educators, administrators and even managers of developers.
The Solution
The fragmented nature of the development of AI tools and initiatives for social empowerment means that at present, effective solutions cannot be replicated or scaled up easily. This emphasises the need for mechanisms to actively share technical learnings and guidance that can ensure that successful programmes in one region can be translated to others.
The Impact
To ensure that these AI technologies are able to truly deliver their transformative potential, it is important for them to actively account for and accommodate the diverse needs, identities, and experiences of all users, including those from the Global South and from traditionally underserved communities. Efforts to improve inclusivity-by design need to be continued to ensure the improvement of AI systems’ safety, relevance and usability
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Related Pre-Summit Events
Join related events building momentum for the summit
Organized by IBM India in New Delhi, this conference highlighted AI and emerging technologies driving India’s digital growth with a focus on inclusion, sustainability, and human capital development. The event featured collaborations like the IBM–AICTE AI Lab and showcased AI skilling impact, fostering partnerships among government, academia, and industry to realize Viksit Bharat 2047
On October 31, 2025, IT for Change convened the “Towards Regenerative AI: Frames for Inclusive, Indigenous & Intentional Innovation” conference at the Infosys Science Foundation in Bengaluru. Global scholars, technologists, policymakers, and civil society leaders explored regenerative approaches to AI - centering inclusion, indigeneity, and intentionality to envision equitable, sustainable, and culturally rooted AI futures. The event advanced India’s leadership in just, resilient digital innovation, producing policy briefs, case studies, and cross-sector partnerships for the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026.
The Inclusive AI Roundtable Dinner, held at the Consulate General of India in San Francisco on October 22, 2025, convened over 30 women leaders from the Indian diaspora driving global AI innovation. Co-hosted by the Consulate and AI Kiran (a Verix and INK Women initiative), the invite-only pre-summit event featured a dialogue on inclusive leadership, workforce transformation, and ethical AI. The discussion advanced collaboration between industry, government, and academia, highlighting India's leadership in responsible AI and aligning with the IndiaAI Summit 2026 themes of Inclusion and Human Capital.
The Global Ethics Forum 2025, held in Geneva, convened policymakers, academics, civil society, and industry leaders to explore ethical challenges in governance under the theme “Reinventing Responsible Governance.” The AI track focused on safe and trusted AI and inclusion, featuring plenaries and breakout sessions to generate actionable recommendations for the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026. The Forum emphasized diverse representation, civil society’s role, and multisectoral dialogue to address AI safety risks and foster inclusive, ethically governed AI systems, producing outcome reports on AI safety and inclusion designed to inform the Summit.
The "AI for Inclusion in India" panel discussion organized by the Center of Policy Research and Governance brought together diverse stakeholders, including students, professionals, educators, and civil society to explore AI’s role in promoting access and equitable opportunities. Through two thematic panels, the event focused on diversity and accessibility within the Indian context, grounding discussions in real-world experiences.
Aapti Institute, in partnership with Data2X, hosted a roundtable on Bridging the AI Divide and Enabling the Democratisation of AI. The discussion highlighted global south priorities, the importance of civil society collaboration, and placing people's agency at the centre of AI governance, shaping expectations for the India–AI Impact Summit 2026.
The Antino AI Summit 2025, themed Synergizing AI with Digital Humanism, explored how AI can drive social good while remaining safe, inclusive, and human-centered. Through keynotes, panels, and startup showcases, participants discussed workforce transformation, democratizing AI access, and ethical practices, fostering collaboration and actionable insights for responsible AI adoption.
The SAP NOW AI Tour in New Delhi demonstrated how AI can strengthen human capital, promote inclusion, and support safe, trusted, and socially beneficial applications of technology.