Value and impact through synergy, interaction and cooperation of networks of ai excellence centres
A broad and ambitious vision is needed for artificial intelligence (AI) research and innovation in Europe to thrive and remain internationally competitive. Building upon its strength across allareas of AI and commitment to its core values, Europe is excellently positioned to take a human-centred, ethical and trustworthy approach to AI. However, to establish itself as a powerhouse in AI, Europe needs to overcome the present fragmentation of the AI community, which creates inefficiencies and limits progress on next-generation, trustworthy AI tools and systems that draw from methods across a broader spectrum of AI techniques. Europe also needs to improve interaction between AI researchers, innovators and users.   Following on from the European Commission’s Communication on AI for Europe and the Coordinated Action Plan between the European Commission and the Member States, European efforts in AI should be strongly coordinated to be internationally competitive. Europe must scale up existing research capacities and reach critical mass through tighter networks of European AI excellence centres. Towards this end, effective coordination between the four networks of AI excellence centres to be established under ICT-48-2020  (Research and Innovation Actions) is of crucial importance.   VISION will reinforce and build on Europe’s assets in AI, including its world-class community of researchers, and thus enable Europe to stay at the forefront of AI developments, which is widely recognised as critical in maintainingEurope’s strategic autonomy in AI. VISION will achieve this in the most efficient and effective manner possible, by strongly building on the success and organisation of CLAIRE (the Confederation of Laboratories for AI Research inEurope, claire-ai.org) as well as on AI4EU, and by leveraging the expertise and connections of several of Europe’s leading institutions in AI research and innovation.