The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in addressing critical challenges will be the focal point at the MED9 Ministerial Summit on Digital Economy, held in Malta's conference center today. The Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, Filippos Chatzizacharias, will be in attendance.

The summit brings together representatives from the nine Mediterranean EU member states. The gathering aims to exchange knowledge, ideas, best practices, and cutting-edge research findings in the rapidly evolving digital technology sectors, especially artificial intelligence, to foster regional collaboration.

Key topics on the agenda include leveraging AI to confront pressing concerns such as climate change, food security, sustainable development, healthcare services, cultural heritage preservation, cybersecurity, workforce education and development, and the utilization of reliable AI in research and innovation.

The summit's overarching goal is to spotlight and capitalize on these technologies in the Mediterranean region, viewing them as tools to address challenges and defenses against potential threats, including those in cyberspace.

To culminate the event, a joint declaration on Artificial Intelligence will be signed by the nine member states, in which the MED9 acknowledges the transformative capabilities of AI in shaping their digital future and commits to collective actions that propel the Mediterranean region forward.