KHANTY-MANSIYSK - Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global Digital (TAG.GD) took part in the 8th International Conference titled ‘Tangible and Intangible Impact of Information and Communication in the Digital Age’, which was held in Khanty-Mansiysk city in Russia, from June 17-19, 2026.

During the plenary session, entitled: ‘The Global Challenges in the Information and Communication in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (AI)’, which primarily highlights the concept of ‘Trust in AI’, Mr. Khaled Khader, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Department manager at TAG.GD, delivered his speech

 (From Information for All to Intelligence for All: Trust, Impartiality, and Sovereignty in the Age of AI(, emphasizing that ‘Intelligence for All’ motto represents the natural expansion of UNESCO’s “Information for All” Program in the AI era.

Moreover, Mr. Khader started his speech with various fundamental questions “How do we build a trustworthy AI?” to “Trustworthy for whom?” and “Verifiable by whom?”, presenting three evidence-based arguments utilizing figures from the Stanford AI Index.

Regarding the first argument, Mr. Khader stated that the gap in AI is not temporary, rather it is structural and steadily widening, pointing out that trust which a country can’t verify by itself independently is not trust at all; it is a form of dependency. He concluded with a key principle: "There is no trustworthy AI without sovereign AI," reminding that "anything that can be operated remotely can also be shut down remotely."

In his second argument, Mr. Khader stated that the AI gap has two primary components that strike the core of the "Information for All" program. The first is language; where Arabic and indigenous languages remain underrepresented in intelligent models, making multilingualism a matter of sovereignty rather than just culture.

While the second component relates to truth. He warned that the greatest danger lies in people no longer believing facts; a phenomenon known as the "liar's dividend", noting that media and information literacy, as a civic skill, represents the strongest line of defense in addressing this challenge.

In the third argument, Mr. Khader emphasized that “bridging the AI gap” represents a development strategy rather than a charitable endeavor, noting that most of the value generated by AI is attributed to humans rather than to machines. He went on to add that the emerging economies are among the most optimistic about these technologies, as the Global South is characterized by a large youth population, a rich knowledge heritage, and trusted institutions; such factors that are transferable and can be exported.

He concluded his speech by calling for dealing with the computer power, data and models as general utilities, funding multilingual data and information literacy as essential infrastructure for sovereignty, and ensuring that countries of the Global South take their positions at the governance table in Geneva as rule-makers rather than rule-recipients.

It is worth mentioning that the Conference was held as part of the implementation of the International UNESCO Program “Information for All (IFAP)” in Russia, and within the activities of the 17th International IT Forum, with the participation of the BRICS Group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The event attracted around 150 participants representing more than 50 countries, including politicians, diplomats, prominent experts, and representatives from educational, cultural, scientific, and media institutions, as well as the private sector and civil society organizations.

The Conference was organized by the Russian Committee for the UNESCO Information for All Program, the Government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, and the Interregional Center of Library Cooperation (ICLC), with the support of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO.