Kick-off for EDIH Artifical Intelligence & CyberSecurity
European Digital Innovation Hub launched for a secure, sustainable and European sovereign AI technology in science and business
Research focuses: Applied Artificial Intelligence, Safety, Security and the Law
On October 5, 2023, the first public event of the European Digital Innovation Hub Artificial Intelligence & CyberSecurity (EDIH-AICS) took place at the FZI House of Living Labs. The event focused on exchanging ideas about collaboration opportunities as well as discovering synergies in order to jointly achieve the core objectives of the EDIH-AICS – networking, knowledge transfer and strengthening the innovation ecosystem.
In October 2022, the European Union started building a network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, known as EDIHs, to support especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the public sector in their digital transformation. The European Digital Innovation Hub Artificial Intelligence & CyberSecurity is one of overall 16 EDIHs in Germany that commenced their work between the end of 2022 and mid-2023. The EDIH-AICS is coordinated by the FZI Research Center for Information Technology. The activities are carried out by ten expert partners in Baden-Württemberg.
Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity as Key Issues
For a multitude of reasons, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybersecurity are crucial for companies and public institutions in today’s digital world – they provide protection against cyber threats, while at the same time enabling automation and efficiency enhancement, early detection of threats, data protection, preservation of customer confidence and increased innovation and competitiveness. The EDIH-AICS vision aims at advancing a secure and sustainable European sovereign AI-technology in science and business. To this end, the EDIH-AICS bundles the AI- and Cybersecurity-related strengths and long-standing experience of the players in the Karlsruhe region and the state of Baden-Württemberg in the following fields of application: Production (AI Engineering), Mobility (Future Mobility), Energy (Zero Emission), Commerce and Services (Sustainable Supply Chains/Business Models) and Public Administration (Innovation Processes & Digital Participation).
Comprehensive Package of Services and Infrastructure
The envisioned result of the cooperation is a complete package of services including the necessary infrastructure for local, national, and European SMEs, startups, and public sector organizations that provides the following:
- Experimental facilities and workshops to test innovations before investment decisions (Test before Invest)
- Offers for the acquisition and development of competences (Skills & Training)
- Possibilities to receive further investments and participate in public funding programs (Support to find Investment)
- Platform for the creation of a strong innovation ecosystem through networking activities and contact initiation (Innovation Ecosystem & Networking)
About the Project:
The project European Digital Innovation Hub Artificial Intelligence and CyberSecurity (EDIH-AICS) was selected as part of the DIGITAL-2021-EDIH-INITIAL-01 tender and will be implemented for 36 months starting on February 1, 2023. With a total budget of almost 6 million euros, the EDIH-AICS is funded by both the EU and the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Besides the FZI Research Center for Information Technology as coordinator, the members of the consortium are:
- Steinbeis Europa Zentrum S2i GmbH
- DIZ | Digital Innovation Center
- Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB
- Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW)
- CyberForum e.V.
- Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- Karlsruhe TechnologyRegion
- Region Nordschwarzwald Wirtschaftsförderung (Economic Region Northern Black Forest)
In addition, a further 106 strong partners are associated with the EDIH-AICS to offer advanced products and services in a practical and application-oriented manner.
