Leiden, 27 June 2026 – Piotr Lewandowski (IBS) took part in the expert meeting “AI and the Future of Industry: Readiness, Risks and Opportunities for Eastern Europe and Central Asia”, organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on 25 June 2026, in Dubrovnik.
The meeting brought together leading experts to provide input for the next edition of the UNIDO Industrial Development Report, which will focus on the role of artificial intelligence in industrial development. During the meeting, Piotr Lewandowski presented the paper “Workers’ Exposure to AI in Europe and Central Asia”, which examines cross-country differences in workers’ exposure to artificial intelligence. The study utilises indicators created in the SkiLMeeT project.
The research shows that workers performing the same occupation often carry out different tasks depending on a country’s level of economic development, leading to substantial differences in AI exposure. The findings indicate that workers in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are, on average, less exposed to AI than those in Western Europe. These differences are driven primarily by ICT intensity, occupational structure, and firm characteristics.
Participants included representatives from UNIDO, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), Eurostat, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), academia, and organisations working on AI development and implementation.
