Morocco
This profile summarises the Key Insights arising from the completion of the RAM for Morocco, provides context through the Country Landscape, and keeps track of the country's Key AI Policies and Frameworks.
Morocco's RAM data are publicly available and can be downloaded below.
Hear more about the public consultation process in Morocco
Key Insights
Morocco has a favorable ecosystem for the development of a holistic and responsible vision of AI. It has many assets to showcase in terms of research, training, regulation, data governance, and e-inclusion. However, the most significant gaps concern technological infrastructure. While the country has made efforts in this area, for example making notable advances in mobile data consumption, the fact remains that major infrastructural provisions are crucial to enable the deployment and development of AI.
The country has made significant progress in terms of internet penetration over the last five years according to the ANRT. The Inclusive Internet Index ranked Morocco 52nd in the world in 2022 in terms of internet use. For the year 2022, the gap between women and men is negligible in terms of internet access and use.
Concerning supporting the development of the AI ecosystem through the establishment of an adequate skills policy, in 2018 the country recorded one of the highest rates in the world in terms of female engineering graduates and the overall percentage of STEM graduates in 2022 is 27%. The country now has educational institutions dedicated exclusively to training in AI and related technologies, but investment in research and development remains relatively low at 0.75% of GDP.
While Morocco has a national digital strategy, it does not have a national strategy specific to AI, meaning that there is no integrated vision to address the challenges and opportunities of AI. Existing legal frameworks in digital matters require readjustments and adaptations to new phenomena brought about by AI, particularly in relation to personal data and the regulation of cyberspace. Particular attention should be paid to the introduction of a liability regime and the management of public procurement to incentivize responsible AI development. The RAM report also identifies a need to address the current lack of linguistic diversification in provision of digital services, and increase international collaboration in this domain.
Total investments in AI have increased significantly between 2020 and 2023, but remain moderate in comparison with neighboring countries. Sectors experiencing significant investment in Morocco are health and biotechnologies, media, marketing and social platforms as well as IT infrastructure.
According to the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, Morocco occupies 50th place in the world out of 194 countries and it is ranked 35th out of 195 countries in the Open Data Index 2022, demonstrating its efforts and commitment to data transparency. Morocco’s e-Government Development Index (EGDI) rose from 0.5729 in 2020 to 0.5915 in 2022, a notable improvement ranking the country 101st.
Country Landscape
AI systems shape and are shaped by a socio-technical landscape of institutions, geographies, and cultural contexts. Therefore, to better understand the environment of the design, development, and deployment of AI systems within countries, it is critical to view these processes with a lens towards the country as a whole.
The share of population with access to electricity is calculated by the World Bank and displayed by Our World in Data. The World Bank defines access to electricity as 'having an electricity source that can provide very basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours a day'. This data was last reported for Morocco in 2020. 100% is the share of population with access to electricity.
The share of the population using the internet is compiled by the ITU. Last documented in 2021, they reported 88.1% of the population as using the internet in Morocco.
The World Bank scores countries on various statistical performance indicators including data infrastructure. This score 'measures the hard and soft infrastructure segments, itemizing essential cross-cutting requirements for an effective statistical system'. The score is based on a range of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the best score. As of 2019, Morocco scored 50.