The Office of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) of Malta, represented by IDPC Legal Counsel Dr Marco Fagnano, recently took part in a high-level meeting of the ADCO, the European AI body dedicated to coordinating national authorities responsible for the market surveillance. The meeting was held at Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) headquarters in Rome.

The meeting, chaired by ACN’s Dr Marco Capotondi, brought together representatives from data protection authorities, as well as technology, communications and innovation regulators from across the EU with the objective of strengthening collaboration among national authorities, through the sharing of experiences in implementing the AI regulatory framework, and advancing common tools and methodologies for evaluating AI systems. Participants also explored capacity-building initiatives and emerging challenges linked to the oversight of advanced AI technologies.

The IDPC, which is a Market Surveillance Authority for AI high-risk systems concerning law enforcement, migration & border control and democracy & justice, was joined by the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA) - being Market Surveillance Authority for the rest of the prescribed high-risk AI systems - represented by Mr Neil Micallef. Both participants volunteered as rapporteurs within breakout groups composed of supervisory authorities (SA) from across the EU, with a view to report an overview of the AI implementation status across the EU, demonstrating not only counterpart collaboration at a domestic level, but also national proactive engagement as a key Member state proponent.

In this role, Dr Marco Fagnano together with Mr Neil Micallef compiled and presented overviews of discussions on the current state of AI implementation and regulatory preparedness amongst the EU Member States, highlighting key trends, shared challenges and opportunities for enhanced coordination.

Participation in this meeting underscores the IDPC’s commitment to contributing to EU-level cooperation on AI governance and market surveillance, and to supporting a harmonised and effective approach to the oversight of artificial intelligence systems across the Union.