Second conference of the KI.NRW flagship initiative gathers North Rhine-Westphalian AI lighthouse projects in Bonn
Eight consortial projects, 47 project partners, one goal: innovation drivers “powered by KI.NRW” join efforts for cross-project collaboration
On June 25, the project managers and teams of the currently eight KI.NRW flagship projects met for the second KI.NRW flagship conference in Bonn. The program included keynote speeches, interactive workshop formats and plenty of space to get to know each other and deepen existing contacts. The aim of the event was to identify synergies and strengthen cross-project collaboration.
“NRW can do AI” – this became clear once again on June 25 when around 40 leading AI experts from across the state came together at the Bonn Surgical Technology Center (BOSTER) on the initiative of KI.NRW and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia MWIKE to take part in the second KI.NRW flagship conference.
For the large consortia, whose main sites are located in Paderborn, Bielefeld, Siegen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal and Sankt Augustin/Bonn, the flagship conference provided a central platform for exchanging ideas, learning from each other and discussing how technology transfer from research to application can be strengthened.
“With the flagship initiative, we are supporting application-orientated, socially relevant AI projects from various sectors, such as medicine, trade, production, commerce and flood protection. In doing so, we create visibility for the activities of the projects, but we also see ourselves as a driving force and facilitator in order to network the experts from the various teams with each other. We know from our transfer work that things get really good when we work together. I am delighted that we were able to make a contribution with our second flagship conference to pool existing strengths and create a basis for further exchange,” says Dr. Christian Temath, Managing Director at KI.NRW.
An interactive speed dating session right at the start of the event and a concentrated World Café session with final presentations from the working groups provided the ideal environment. The project teams also reported on their project goals in short pitches as well as explicitly on existing challenges that need to be solved on the way to the next milestones.
It became apparent that a cross-project exchange can be fruitful even in completely different target industries, for example when it comes to the processing and analysis of data, the correct calibration of sensors, or the creation of AI readiness checks, study designs and communication material for trade fairs and events. “The fact that the first video calls have already been scheduled during the coffee breaks so that we can talk to each other again in smaller groups over the next few days encourages us to keep pushing forward with our networking activities,” says Temath.
Following the first flagship conference at Schloss Birlinghoven in September 2022 and the successful second edition this June, the format will be organized again in the coming years in consultation with the project teams.
More detailed information on the individual projects are available here on the KI.NRW website and in the recently published Flagship Brochure, in which all projects are presented in compact form.
Impressions
Operating under the brand “Flagships powered by KI.NRW”, the Artificial Intelligence Competence Platform North Rhine-Westphalia supports AI lighthouse projects funded by the state. The aim is to ensure and support efficient technology transfer and close cooperation between SMEs, startups, universities as well as research institutions in the federal state NRW. Large companies, SMEs and start-ups work closely with universities and research institutions to solve socially relevant issues. Under the patronage of KI.NRW, those innovation-driving actors and competencies are networked, the funded projects are accompanied in terms of communication, and the federal state NRW is positioned at European level in regard to artificial intelligence by marketing the results. The focus lies on sustainable transfer and further utilization of the project results.