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Project

EDIH 2022: Creating a lever for a future-proof and sustainable economy for Brussels enabled by AI and other emerging digital technologies (BRGPROV14)

The industrial tissue of the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) consists of 99.7% of SMEs and has a high concentration of digital andservice-oriented companies. Digital technology is the major driver of their innovations. Nevertheless, these companies performslightly below the European average on the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and finish third last in using ICT for environmentalsustainability. This specific context justifies the launch of a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) in Brussels. It will act as single point of access forcompanies to sustainable digital innovation, enabled by AI and other emerging technologies.Based on the local industrial needs and in line with the policies of the Brussels-Capital Region, the following strategic objectives havebeen defined for the EDIH:- Encourage and facilitate digital innovation for economic, social and environmental transition- Contribute to the post-Covid recovery- Strengthen Brussels’ leadership in artificial intelligence- Be a gateway to Europe, promoting and enriching Brussels’ expertise and industry- Facilitate digitization of the Brussels’ industry.This proposal brings together all necessary elements to implement a successful EDIH in Brussels:- A thematic focus that translates into a balanced and flexible service portfolio to support the regional SMEs to improve their (future)competitiveness.- A strong support from the Brussels-Capital Region that aspires to be frontrunner in Belgium and Europe. It will co-finance the EDIHfor 50% during the next 7 years with an amount of 2.1M€ for the first 3 years.- A lean and experienced consortium that can deliver the services in 3 different languages (French, Dutch & English) and set upEuropean corridors and reach out to other EDIHs.The EDIH will be implemented by 5 complementary innovation actors in Brussels being Agoria, Sirris, BeCentral, ULB and VUB. It will reach 1500 companies.
Date:1 Nov 2022 →  Today
Keywords:AI & Decision Support, big data, SME support, knowledge transfer, environment, Technological innovation, twin transformation
Disciplines:Knowledge representation and reasoning