Sri Lanka Deploys UNESCO RAM 2.0 Framework for National AI Assessment

Sri Lanka has begun the formal implementation of UNESCO's updated Readiness Assessment Methodology to evaluate national preparedness for artificial intelligence governance, according to UNESCO. The exercise, coordinated by UNESCO's Regional Office for South Asia alongside the Ministry of Digital Economy, makes Sri Lanka one of the first countries globally to deploy the revised RAM 2.0 framework.

According to UNESCO, the assessment is overseen by a national steering committee co-chaired by Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy, and Eunsong Kim, Chief of Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO South Asia. The committee brings together officials from various state bodies, the United Nations Development Programme's Citra Lab, researchers, industry representatives, and civil-society organisations, with regional research organisation LIRNEasia supporting operational delivery.

According to project documents, the RAM 2.0 framework examines systemic readiness across five core pillars: legal and regulatory mechanisms, technical infrastructure, educational and workforce development, socio-cultural impacts, and economic foundations. The work programme involves comprehensive data collection and multistakeholder consultations across several regional hubs, including Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, and Batticaloa. The exercise will result in a report, drawing on an assessment of the country's strengths, gaps and priorities, that complements Sri Lanka's digital transformation agenda and proposed national AI strategy.

What it means

For developing countries, standardised assessment frameworks allow policymakers to benchmark their institutional capacity and craft domestic rules rooted in local constraints rather than importing unsuited regulatory models from wealthier economies.