Citizen's Ombudsman to Host AI, Digitalisation and Human Rights Training on May 22, 2026

The Citizen's Ombudsman Institution has announced a strategic training session titled “Artificial Intelligence, Digitalisation and Human Rights in Public Administration”, set for 22 May 2026 from 10am to midday in the auditorium at La Llacuna.

Directed at directors, technical staff, officials overseeing digital transformation, and political office-holders, the event will be led by Ismael Emiliano Rins, a lawyer with a master’s in human rights from the University of Alcalá. Rins, who serves as technical secretary of the Ibero-American Ombudsman Federation (FIO), specialises in how digitalisation affects states and human rights. He also coordinates global efforts on digital citizenship education and AI in public sectors.

The session promotes a person-centred approach to technological upgrades, balancing AI and digital tools' efficiencies against risks like automation, access gaps, and weakened institution-citizen ties. Discussions will cover tensions between administrative speed and rights protection, shifts in state-citizen relations, effects on vulnerable populations, rights to non-digital service channels, and institutional duties in tech deployment.

Participants can expect a mix of conceptual presentations, interactive debates, and practical applications to real-world public management, such as designing procedures, handling personal data, and using automated decision systems.

Xavier Cañada, the Citizen's Ombudsman, said the aim is to build public bodies' skills in meeting digital challenges without undermining equality, accessibility, or citizens' human dignity. The open initiative seeks to foster strategic thinking on public action amid tech shifts.