Flanders AI Readiness Assessment — UNESCO's First Sub-National Application of Its Readiness Assessment Methodology

On 2 June 2026 UNESCO launched the Flanders Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment Report at Digitaal Vlaanderen's AI Inspiratie Dag. Developed with Digitaal Vlaanderen's AI Expertise Centre under the EU-funded 'AI-Ready Flemish Public Administration' project, it is the first application of UNESCO's Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) below national level, and one of the first pilots of RAM 2.0, which was adapted for multi-level governance (regional, federal, European).
The assessment maps the AI policy and governance landscape across six RAM dimensions (ethical governance, legal, socio-cultural, scientific, economic, technical), using expert interviews and stakeholder consultation. UNESCO notes the RAM has been carried out in more than 75 countries.
Reported findings: strong research and innovation infrastructure; a complex Belgian federal structure that complicates coordination; data and AI policies that are not sufficiently aligned; AI literacy gaps among citizens, workers and businesses; limited integration of sustainability in AI policy; public concern about misinformation and privacy. Context figures cited include 59% of Flemish companies using at least one AI technology in 2025 (23% in 2021).
Recommendations: stronger independent oversight, better coordination of data and AI policy, inclusive AI literacy and reskilling, structured sustainability integration, and protection of cultural and linguistic diversity.
Caution: this is a diagnostic, not an intervention. No outcome evaluation exists yet, and sources report differing investment figures, so none are relied on here. Its value is as a transferable template for regions that share competences with a federal state.

Read the full analysis: https://www.unesco-vlaanderen.be/unesco-in-de-kijker/publicaties/ram