First European Network of AI excellence centres

The European Commission announced the kick-off of the “first European Network of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Excellence Centres”. This Network is currently composed of five EU-funded projects bringing together researchers. These projects were launched following a Horizon 2020 call last year. The entire call was worth 50 million euros.

The aim of this newly created Network is to foster exchange of knowledge, attract talents and further develop collaboration between the Network and industry.

The European Commission envisages this Network as a first step before launching a larger initiative -funded by Horizon Europe. This follows the publication of the Commission’s White Paper on AI last February where the Commission states that the European AI community must be unified.

Four projects work on specific AI topics:

-AI4Media: focuses on advancing AI to serve media, to make sure that the European values of ethical and trustworthy AI are embedded in future AI deployments, and to reimagine AI as a beneficial technology in the service of society and media.

-ELISE:  invites all ways of reasoning, considering all types of data applicable for almost all sectors of science and industry, while being aware of data safety and security, and striving for explainable and trustworthy outcomes.

-HumanE-AI-Net: supports technologies for human-level interaction, by providing new abilities to perceive and understand complex phenomena, to individually and collectively solve problems, and to empower individuals with new abilities for creativity and experience.

-TAILOR: builds an academic-public-industrial research network to provide the scientific basis for Trustworthy AI, combining learning, optimization and reasoning to produce AI systems that incorporate safeguards for safety, transparency and respect for human agency and expectations.

One project is in charge of coordination and support:

-VISION: to foster exchange between the selected projects and other relevant initiatives, ensuring synergy and overcoming fragmentation in the European AI community.

For any questions on this issue, please do not hesitate to contact Camille Dornier - Policy Manager: camille.dornier@eurosmart.com