The AI Ecosystem of Shanghai

This chapter assesses the operational capacity of Shanghai to implement public sector AI applications in practice. To do so, it examines the status of Shanghai’s AI ecosystem, defined as the aggregation of resources needed to make public sector AI applications possible. Building on previous research on AI ecosystems, the chapter gauges five indicators to assess the availability of such resources in Shanghai, namely: data; technological and physical infrastructure; AI talents; AI companies; and social acceptance of AI-enabled public services. This chapter also emphasizes the ability of Shanghai to orchestrate the resources of the municipal AI ecosystem, arguing that this is a key component of Shanghai’s capacity to deploy AI in the public sector.