Last year, the AI Act entered into force. The AI Act is the first-ever European legal framework on AI, regulating the deployment of all AI applications. To help governments, an ‘AI Act Decision-Making Tool’ has recently been made available. This decision-making tool helps determine whether the AI Act applies to the AI application government agencies are deploying and helps to identify the requirements the application should comply with.
The AI Act in short
The European AI Act came into force on 1 August 2024. The AI Act outlines the rights and obligations of developers and deployers of AI-systems in the European Union. These rules should ensure the development and deployment of trustworthy AI. This is meant to enhance citizens’ confidence in AI, allowing for innovation and economic development. By establishing risk categories (Prohibited AI, High-risk AI and Deception risk), the EU aims to ensure this. Some AI practices will be banned from 2 February 2025. Other AI systems must comply with the AI Act from August 2026 or August 2030.
Knowledge-based products
This law also applies to all government agencies in the Netherlands ranging from executive agencies, municipalities, provinces, water authorities to Central Government. As providers and/or deployers of AI systems, they will have to comply with the new rules imposed by this act. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) supports governments in complying with the AI Act. In order to prepare government agencies for the gradual enforcement of the AI Act, BZK has developed several knowledge-based products. These include:
- The decision-making tool (Dutch, though linked to English-language content)
- Webinars (Dutch)
- Short videos (‘Kennisclips’, Dutch)
- Featured stories
For more information on current rules and regulations, as well as recommendations and resources for the responsible use of AI and algorithms, please see the Algorithm Framework (Dutch).
The decision-making tool is in the process of development. All versions will be developed open source. Suggestions are welcomed at: ai-verordening@minbzk.nl: ai-verordening@minbzk.nl.
