Across curricula, cities, and public infrastructures, AI deployment is expanding 

 

— yet accountability frameworks remain fragmented.

This is not a technological shortfall, but a legal and institutional gap, defined by insufficient delineation of responsibility, liability, and oversight. 

 

Academia is often among the first to absorb systemic change — and among the first to convert that pressure into momentum. 

 

We reiterated that 2025 marked a point of no return in AI integration. In 2026, the question is no longer whether AI will be deployed, but whether governance will keep pace.

The Global Digital Compact advances an important multilateral reference point. Yet without firm domestic implementation and legal domestication, partnerships risk amplifying uncertainty rather than sustainability. The United Nations cannot — and should not — act alone: national legal systems must operationalise governance standards if cooperation is to remain credible and effective.

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In 2023, we repeatedly articulated at international forums that 2025 had to mark the last viable window for adopting robust AI regulation, before irreversible consequences would materialise. 

 

Today, we reminded that this window has passed — while governance remains fragmented.

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If we want universities to function as societal actors, if we want smart cities to be genuinely sustainable, and if we want partnerships to accelerate — rather than destabilise — innovation, then closing the legal gap must become a shared priority.

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Thank you to the moderators and organising partners for this wonderful convening — and kudos to the speakers and all participants for the openness and depth of exchange.