Argentina - Artificial Intelligence Program (90/2021)

Overview

Resolución 90/2021 (Secretaría de Asuntos Estratégicos) formally creates the "Programa de Inteligencia Artificial" within the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento to support the Consejo Económico y Social in activities to promote technological skills related to artificial intelligence. The instrument is explicitly connected to national strategic decrees (e.g., Boletín Oficial - Resolución 90/2021) and to the financing architecture approved under Decree No. 970/2020 and the BID Loan No. 5084/OC-AR, which finance capacity-building actions and subcomponent 2.2 related to innovations and training. The Program’s objective is programmatic and institutional: to coordinate actors, launch calls, design training and research projects, and foster national talent and technological autonomy in AI.

Definitions

For the purposes of the Resolution the main defined concepts are implied by the institutional context: “Program” refers to the Programa de Inteligencia Artificial; “Direction” refers to the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento; “Council” or “Consejo” refers to the Consejo Económico y Social; and “Missions País / Educación y Trabajos del Futuro” are the strategic areas identified in Decree No. 124/2021. The Resolution does not provide technical or operational definitions of “artificial intelligence” nor categories of AI risk; it frames AI primarily as a technology domain for capacity-building, innovation and economic development.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The Program is placed under the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento, which is empowered to direct, operationalize and control the Program and to propose necessary complementary regulations. The institutional design centralizes programmatic responsibilities within the Secretaría de Asuntos Estratégicos to provide staff and budgetary resources in collaboration with the Consejo Económico y Social. The Resolution references the legal basis and competencies established by Decrees No. 50/2019 and 124/2021 and locates the Program inside a cross-cutting governance architecture intended to coordinate across ministries, academia, unions, private sector and civil society. See the official publication for the full text: Boletín Oficial - Resolución 90/2021.

Key Focus Areas

The Resolution articulates a set of priority activities: (1) inter-institutional coordination and collaboration with state agencies, academic institutions and trade representation to execute AI-related actions; (2) dissemination, facilitation and promotion of activities such as forums, training, scholarships and studies; (3) public convocatorias (open calls) to actors within the Consejo Económico y Social to deploy and disseminate AI; (4) development of agreements with public, private and civil society organizations to scale training and diffusion; (5) formulation, proposal and execution of projects oriented to preparing the workforce for AI-related jobs; (6) fostering research, innovation, development and domestic technological production in AI in priority national areas; (7) promoting national AI talent to pursue technological autonomy and regional competitiveness; and (8) facilitating linkage and knowledge transfer across the national and regional ecosystem to generate public value. The Resolution aligns these focus areas with the BID-funded program components that emphasize innovation, capacity building and inclusive access.

Implementation Framework

Operational responsibility is assigned to the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento, which must initiate the Program’s activities, control execution, and propose complementary rules. Implementation modalities foreseen by the Resolution include designing and running open calls, entering into cooperation agreements, funding and executing projects, organizing training and scholarship schemes, and convening multi-stakeholder forums. The Resolution does not prescribe specific procurement, data governance or technical standards; these are left to subsequent programmatic rules and agreements. Implementation therefore requires coordination with the Secretaría de Asuntos Estratégicos’ budgetary and administrative units and with external funding sources such as BID programs (subcomponent 2.2), identified in the text as sources for training and innovation actions. Official publication: Boletín Oficial.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Resolution mandates that the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento will control the execution of the Program and is authorized to propose complementary regulation. While it establishes oversight responsibilities at the program direction level, the text does not prescribe specific KPIs, monitoring indicators, reporting formats, or evaluation cycles. Monitoring and evaluation practices are therefore to be developed within the Program’s implementing instruments and in alignment with any conditions attached to international financing (e.g., the BID loan framework). Stakeholders should expect periodic reporting to the Secretaría and to the Consejo Económico y Social as part of program coordination.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

The Resolution is administrative and constitutive; it creates a program and assigns functions but does not set penalties, sanctions, civil liability rules, or administrative fines related to AI systems or specific conduct. Liability and appeals for administrative decisions, procurement, or contractual disputes will be governed by existing general administrative, contractual and judicial norms. The Dirección Nacional may propose future complementary regulations that could establish compliance mechanisms; until then, the Resolution does not impose direct punitive measures.

Relationship to Other Instruments

Resolución 90/2021 explicitly cites and rests on earlier instruments: Decree No. 50/2019 (competencies of the Secretaría de Asuntos Estratégicos), Decree No. 802/2020 (mandates for the Dirección Nacional de Gestión del Conocimiento), Decree No. 124/2021 (creation of the Consejo Económico y Social and its Missions País), and Decree No. 970/2020 (approval of the BID loan model contract). The Resolution links the Program to the BID-financed “Programa de Innovación para Respuesta a Situaciones de Crisis y Gestión de Prioridades Estratégicas” (Loan 5084/OC-AR), particularly subcomponent 2.2 which finances training and innovation activities. It therefore functions as a program-creation instrument rather than a standalone regulatory regime and anticipates complementary rules to be issued by the Dirección Nacional when required.

International Alignment

Although the Resolution does not adopt international AI standards or create transnational compliance obligations, it references the Inter-American Development Bank financing structure (BID Loan No. 5084/OC-AR) as a source of support and situates Argentina’s effort within Latin American priorities to develop AI capabilities. The Program’s aims to strengthen research, talent and tech production are complementary to international capacity-building objectives and facilitate cooperation with international development partners. The official text and context of financing are available at the Boletín Oficial: Boletín Oficial - Resolución 90/2021.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References