Senate bill, tech consulting firm tackle AI regulations for Puerto Rico
C2S backs Senate Bill 68 and will attend a Stanford University artificial intelligence program.
Local tech consulting firm C2S is hoping to facilitate the process of establishing much-needed regulations for the use of artificial intelligence technology in Puerto Rico.
The company is focusing on a senate bill and attending a certificate program in Stanford University to advise its client, the Puerto Rico government, on the matter.
Senate Bill 68, introduced on Jan. 2 by New Progressive Party Sens. Thomas Rivera Schatz and Wilmer Reyes-Berríos, seeks to create the “Artificial Intelligence Act of the Government of Puerto Rico” and establish an AI officer and council to develop public policy for the implementation of AI throughout the island’s government agencies.
Puerto Rico needs to pay more attention to the need for public policy that regulates this technology, Tatiana Vallescorbo, attorney and advisory senior director at IT and process management consulting firm C2S, told News is my Business.
“The idea is to be able to support the government of Puerto Rico in the creation of public policy that addresses technological advancements that are already here. Obviously, technology moves a lot faster than regulations, and we need to work out a way to manage it in a responsible way,” Vallescorbo said.
The island is behind in this area, she added, “and when that debate arrives, we’ll have seen how other countries have handled it. It’s something we need to address and discuss” publicly.
Vallescorbo and Imanol E. Caballero, an attorney and law professor at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, are traveling to Stanford University in April to get certified on an AI program that addresses the complex subject of developing and implementing public policy.
The current administration’s interest in advancing tech startups on the island could help accelerate that debate, Vallescorbo noted.
“The government has shown interest in developing tech hubs and promoting tech startups, and maybe when we have more [tech] products or services being developed in Puerto Rico, this debate can move forward,” she said.
C2S has an AI-powered product called Sofia, similar to Amazon’s Alexa, that the company is training with Puerto Rico and international economic data. The process of feeding the local data will be completed this summer, Vallescorbo said.
“This is going to be very useful for the government and local businesses because they will have access to information that can directly affect their operations. For example, it will show them how the U.S. tariffs would affect them,” she said.
While AI has been around for decades, it is now being applied commercially, which calls for greater adaptability, best practices and effective regulations, said Jesús Colón Contreras, managing partner and co-founder of C2S.
“Thirteen years ago, when C2S was founded, we didn’t talk about AI in commercial terms. Now we have AI applications that allow us to assist various areas of business and operations,” he said, noting that the C2S team has been working with AI for years, as some of them previously worked at IBM.
C2S has worked on several AI projects in the public and private sectors, including COPOP Móvil, a tool for the Puerto Rico Police that digitized the protection order process. C2S also worked on the digitization of graduation certificates at the Department of Education, a process that now takes seconds instead of months; cloud technology for the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Employees Association (AEELA, in Spanish), which helps members manage accounts; and the digitation and optimization of processes for the Municipality of Caguas and the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce.
Nelson Prieto, C2S partner and co-founder, highlighted the speed of innovation in technology and the importance of keeping up with it.
“This is moving and evolving so fast that, before, manufacturers of technology would release new products once a year, then every six months, then every three months and now it’s every month,” Prieto said.
“Today, 20% of companies’ information is structured, such as financial information, accounting, purchasing, etc., and 80% is unstructured info, and that’s what we’re focusing on. Companies need to structure that information to be more efficient,” Pietro explained.
As AI technology gathers and analyzes information over the years, it gives organizations the ability to access valuable insights, make predictions and improve decision-making, he added.
In addition to Puerto Rico, C2S operates in the Dominican Republic and Colombia. The company, which also serves the U.S., Mexico and Venezuela, plans to expand to Costa Rica this year.
