The European Digital Innovation Hub applied Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity: for secure, sustainable and European sovereign AI technology in science, business and administration

Karlsruhe, Germany, Oktober 16, 2023

The European Union (EU) has been building a network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) since October 2022 and Baden-Württemberg is part of it! The program aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the public sector in particular in their digital transformation. The European Digital Innovation Hub applied Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity (EDIH-AICS) is one of 16 EDIHs in Germany that will start their work between the end of 2022 and mid-2023. EDIH-AICS is funded by both the EU and the state of Baden-Württemberg with a total budget of almost 6 million euros.

The European Digital Innovation Hub applied Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity (EDIH-AICS) project was selected as part of the DIGITAL-2021-EDIH-INITIAL-01 call for proposals and will run for 36 months from February 1, 2023.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity are crucial for companies and public institutions in today's digital world for a variety of reasons. From protecting against cyber threats and early threat detection, protecting data and customer trust, to automation and increasing efficiency, as well as boosting innovation and competitiveness. The vision of EDIH-AICS is therefore to develop secure, sustainable and European sovereign AI technology in science, business and administration. EDIH-AICS combines the strengths and many years of experience of the players in the Karlsruhe region and the state of Baden-Württemberg, namely AI and cyber security in the application fields of production (AI Engineering), mobility (Future Mobility), energy (Zero Emission), trade/services (Sustainable Supply Chains/Business Models) and public administration (Innovation Processes & Digital Citizen Participation).

The result is a comprehensive package of services and infrastructure for local, national and European SMEs, start-ups and public sector organizations, including

• Experimental spaces and workshops to test innovations before investment decisions are made (Test before Invest)
• Offers for the acquisition and development of skills (Skills & Training)
• Opportunities to obtain further investment and participate in public funding programs (Support to find Investment)
• Platforms to create a strong innovation ecosystem through various networking activities and contact initiation (Innovation Ecosystem & Networking)

EDIH-AICS is coordinated by the FZI Research Center for Information Technology. The activities are carried out by ten expert partners in Baden-Württemberg.

The consortium includes: FZI Research Center for Information Technology (coordinator), Steinbeis Europa Zentrum S2i GmbH, DIZ | Digitales Innovationszentrum GmbH, 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, TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe GmbH, Region Nordschwarzwald Wirtschaftsförderung?

In addition, a further 106 strong partners are associated with EDIH-AICS in order to offer advanced products and services in a practical and application-oriented manner.

In order to bring these partners and other stakeholders together, the first public event of the EDIH-AICS took place on October 5, 2023 at the FZI House of Living Labs. The event focused in particular on exchanging ideas about opportunities for cooperation and discovering synergies in order to jointly achieve the core objectives of the EDIH-AICS - networking, knowledge transfer and strengthening the innovation ecosystem.

More information on the EDIH-AICS can be found at www.edih-aics.eu.

Project Coordination:
FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik
Haid-und-Neu-Str. 10-14,
76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
edih@fzi.de