site.btaUPDATED Work on AI Act in Final Stages, Digital Transformation Minister Says

Work on the Artificial Intelligence Act is in its final stages, and the text is due to be put forward for public consultation, Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Ivan Vasilev said before members of the parliamentary Committee on Innovation and Digital Transformation on Wednesday in response to a question from representatives of the Progressive Bulgaria (PB) parliamentary group about the legislative programme in the area of innovation and digitalization.

In addition to legislation in the field of artificial intelligence, Vasilev said that the legislative agenda through the end of the year also includes the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, the Access to Public Information Act, the European Digital Identity Wallet Act and the Electronic Governance Act. The agenda includes both entirely new legislation and amendments and supplements to existing legislation.

Vasilev said he expected the texts of these laws to be submitted to Parliament for discussion and voting by the end of the year.

The Minister also answered a question from the GERB-UDF parliamentary group about the progress of the tender procedure launched last year to select developers of unmanned aerial vehicles for the needs of the Armed Forces. He said there had been no delays or identified obstacles to the implementation of the project to develop combat and reconnaissance drones in Bulgaria. “The Ministry’s commitment is to maintain close ties and interaction with the Ministry of Economy, Investments and Industry and the Ministry of Defence on this issue, because defence innovation is a shared area of responsibility between the aforementioned ministries,” he said.

In response to a question from the Continue the Change parliamentary group, Vasilev said that the agenda of the general meeting of Information Services scheduled for this month contained no item on replacing members of the company’s Board of Directors. He cited the upcoming presidential election and amendments to the Election Code related to the introduction of fully machine-based voting as the reason. “At this point, I do not believe there is any reason to make changes at Information Services before the election, given the importance of the upcoming October 25 vote,” Vasilev said.