Online Training: Responsible AI Frameworks & Tools for SMEs

Through interactive sessions, participatory activities, and co-creation exercises, participating companies will learn how to operationalize Responsible AI principles into real business practices.

Format & Duration

Online — Live sessions via Zoom
3 days (2 hours per day)

• 12th February 9 am–11 am
• 17th February 12 pm–2 pm
• 3rd March 11 am–1 pm

Confirmation of Participation from the School of Digital Technologies, Tallinn University, will be issued to participants upon completion.

Who Should Attend?

SME founders, AI/tech leads, product managers, compliance officers, innovation teams, and other stakeholders involved in digital transformation and AI adoption inside SMEs.

Register here

Day 1 — Introduction & Pre-Assessment

Theme: Responsible AI Fundamentals & Baseline Evaluation

Objectives:

• Build a common understanding of Responsible AI concepts, principles, and relevance for SMEs.
• Explore how Responsible AI enhances trust, competitiveness, and ethical business practice.
• Assess current organizational readiness and gaps.
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Core Activities: 

• Welcome & introductions
• Overview: What is Responsible AI and why it matters for your company
• Interactive discussion: Key challenges, opportunities, and sector-specific risks
• Pre-assessment: RAI maturity check, risk mapping, governance baseline
• Reflection breakout rooms Outcome: Participants develop a shared understanding of RAI and a baseline assessment of their organization’s current status

Day 2 — Main Workshop: Co-Designing Your Responsible AI Framework

Theme: Participatory Framework Building

Objectives: 

• Translate Responsible AI principles into actionable organizational structures
• Use participatory methods to define core features of RAI frameworks and tools
• Begin co-creation of a customized RAI framework relevant to each SME

Core Activities: 

• Opening: Context-sensitive examples of Responsible AI in SMEs
• Feature Card Activities — interactive breakout exercise to identify key RAI features
• Ecosystem Mapping — connecting responsibilities, tools, and workflows
• Collaborative synthesis: Drafting your company’s RAI framework canvas
• Group sharing & feedback

Outcome: Each company produces a draft Responsible AI framework that incorporates actionable governance elements, risk-aligned tools, and context-specific considerations.

Day 3 — Tools & Implementation + Post-Assessment

Theme: Practical Tools, Roadmaps & Evaluation

Objectives:

• Introduce practical RAI tools (assessment checklists, decision flows, monitoring templates)
• Support the transition from theory to practice with implementation roadmaps
• Conduct a post-training assessment to capture learning and progress

Core Activities:

• Presentation: Ready-to-use RAI tools (e.g., risk templates, ethical checklists, governance flowcharts)
• Use-Case Walkthroughs: Applying tools in industry-specific contexts
• Implementation Roadmap: Next steps for embedding your framework
• Post-assessment: Comparison with Day 1 baseline, insights & improvements
• Q&A + Reflection Outcome: Participants walk away with concrete Responsible AI tools, a tailored implementation roadmap, and validated learnings from the post-assessment

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this training, participating SMEs will be able to:

• Identify and articulate Responsible AI principles relevant to their business
• Conduct organizational assessments of RAI readiness and ethical risk
• Co-design and draft a Responsible AI framework suited for their context
• Apply practical tools to operationalize AI governance and accountability
• Create a roadmap to implement, monitor, and scale responsible AI practices

Register here

About the training instructors

Prof Merja Bauters

Merja Bauters is a research professor in Digital Transformation and Lifelong Learning at the School of Digital Technologies at Tallinn University, where she leads an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme, Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Societies, and a research team of six people. Bauters is a docent of semiotics at the University of Helsinki. Bauters has been involved in executing research, planning, and guiding co-design, participatory, and design thinking processes for designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating Human-Computer Interaction solutions in multiple EU and national projects on technology-enhanced learning at workplaces, effects of twin transition, and the Artificial Intelligence Act on the SME field. Bauters’ teaching activities include 30 courses on interaction design, design, design methods, semiotics, and project communication for engineers and humanistic studies. She received her PhD from the Department of Philosophy, History, Culture, and Art Studies, University of Helsinki, in 2007, discussing Charles Peirce's thoughts on interpretation. She has directed PhDs and master's, and acted as the opponent to PhD dissertations.

Marwa Soudi

Marwa is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Tallinn University, pursuing her Ph.D. focusing on Responsible AI and the development of a trustworthy AI ecosystem for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). She is also a Senior Consultant at the MENA Observatory of Responsible AI at the American University of Cairo. And she is the co-founder and CIO of IdeasGym. Marwa has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards that showcase her commitment to fostering innovation and education. She won the "ICT for Women" first-place award in 2018 for co-founding the IdeasGym e-learning platform, an initiative recognized by the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and UNDP. In the same year, she was awarded the Tony Elumelu grant for entrepreneurship in Africa, underscoring her impact on educational initiatives across the continent. Marwa was honored with the Women in Business Innovation Award in 2024, presented by Germany's First Lady, and received the prestigious IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award.