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What is happening in Europe regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)?

What type of AI Tenders are being put out?

“A lot” is the short answer. There is a Cambrian explosion of projects, studies and initiatives in this field.

In this post we provide an overview of what is happening in Europe regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

We look some of the latest examples from across Europe where public sector buyers are looking for suppliers of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data systems, products and services.

Check back frequently as we are constantly adding to the list.

(You may also like this updated overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tenders.)

(We also have an overview over European IoT projects)

The Belgian Federal Government is creating a framework agreement for a centralised marketplace for pre-vetted AI tools to be used for enhancing efficiency, transparency, and compliance in key sectors such as e-government, mobility, and healthcare.

The Swedish Migration and Immigration Agency is seeking a provider for the implementation of a  complete Facial Recognition System, capable of processing over 7 million facial images.

Hellenic Technical Chamber is is procuring the development of an AI solution for Detection of Illegal Construction.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has put out a contract for an analysis of how the use of AI and Big data by public administration and businesses impacts on fundamental rights.

The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) has announced a call for AI tenders for a service contract to analyse the system shifts in value chains caused by AI  with a view to anticipate AI opportunities for SMEs and explore the conditions for full roll-out of critical industrial AI applications in important economic sectors in Europe.

This contract is part of an effort to identify an optimal mix of industrial policy measures that are deemed necessary to create a favourable framework for the uptake of AI applications by European SMEs.

European Defence Agency has put out a contract for a study of, among other things, how AI and Big Data can support decision making in relation to C4ISR. 

The EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union has announced an interesting AI Tender for using natural language processing (NLP) and ML to analyse legal texts and identify reporting requirements in them.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has announced their intention to award a contract to Euroskilt AS for the supply of a system that provides a real-time view of cars and other vehicles (including bicycles) in tunnels. The proposed solution uses ML to create real-time magnetic signatures of cars and other vehicles (including bicycles). These magnetic signatures are, according to the supplier, as individual as fingerprints, but less privacy intrusive than vision-based solutions that analyses pictures of the vehicles where drivers and license plates can be identified.

The contract is being awarded directly and without any competitive procedure because the supplier, according to the buyer, “has a monopoly on the algorithms for machine-learning”. 

The European Commission has put out a contract for studies about the progress on the digital transformation of the health and care in the EU particularly with regards to citizens’ access to their Electronic Health Records (EHR). 

One study will look at the interoperability of Electronic Health Records in the EU. 

Another study will survey and analyse progress on the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for the benefit of patients and health and care systems in the EU. The results of the study will support and inform EU policy initiatives aiming to leverage AI and big data for digitally transforming and improving health and care in the EU.

Univerzita Hradec Králové is looking to procure a computing cluster for demanding scientific calculations in the field of molecular modelling, machine learning and data mining.

European Defence Agency (EDA) is looking for someone to undertake a feasibility study on artificial intelligence for energy and environmental management in different military operating domains: maritime, land, and air.

EDA is also looking to commission a study of “Artificial Intelligence for Automatic Detection Recognition, Identification (DRI) and Tracking”. 

The general objective of this study is to analyse the most promising AI-based techniques for Automatic Detection Recognition Identification and Tracking (A-DRIT) at least in the following operative conditions: Spatially distributed small targets in strong background; High resolution imaging systems (passive or active) with wide Field of View (Wide region surveillance); Multidimensional imagery (multiband/ multispectral/ hyperspectral, multiresolution) and Multiple cooperating platforms.

Simula Research Laboratory AS is looking to procure a supercomputer.

The initial phase of the project starts with the procurement of a very heterogeneous Linux based supercomputing cluster, with the latest general processing elements, with dedicated processing elements for machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as the latest Infiniband high-performance computing (HPC) network and globally shared file systems.

Hochschule Anhalt in Germany is also looking to procure an HPC but specifies it must be build using high-performance GPUs. 

The HPC will be used to run applications related to machine learning in biotechnology, agriculture (smart farming) and natural language processing. The system will also be used for training and inference of very deep, artificial neural networks.

Fundación del Centro Supercomputación de Castilla y León is also looking for an HPC.

Autoritatea Națională pentru Administrare și Reglementare în Comunicații in Romania wants to procure or lease equipment that uses AI with continuous learning for the detection of cyber-attacks and malicious software. 

The Norwegian tax authorities are looking to procure an AI based chatbot.

University of the West of Scotland is looking to map the AI capabilities of software suppliers to support decision-making in NHS Scotland. The exercise will contribute to shaping the next phase of national Knowledge and Decision Support Programme.

The European Commission is seeking someone to undertake a study regarding open source software and hardware.

The objective of the study is to investigate in detail the economic impact of open source software and hardware on the European economy. The study should identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of open source in relevant ICT policies (e.g. cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digitising the European industry, the connected car, HPC, big data, distributed ledger technologies, etc.). The study should gather evidence in monetary terms of the footprint of open source in the EU economy.

Finally, the study should propose a list of policy options that can maximize the benefit of open source in support of a competitive EU software and hardware industry and an eco-friendly transformation of the EU economy.

The European Commission is looking to procure a service that through artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of satellite images can perform eligibility checks in relation to grants paid through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). 

The service is intended to replace on-the-spot checks.

The Dutch Ministerie van Economische Zaken, Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), are looking for proposals on how to make pictures of handwritten historical notes searchable.

It’s a really interesting project that seeks to transform pictures of historical handwritten notes into a searchable index. Something that has exciting prospects because there globally are so many vast repositories of handwritten notes that are difficult to find and gain insight from because they are not searchable.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), in particular the National Archive (NA), and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) challenge entrepreneurs to develop new products and services for the application of artificial intelligence (AI). The National Archive has digitized a lot in recent years. Historical handwritten archives are available as pictures on the internet but the information in these documents is not searchable.

After completing the SBIR process, the National Archives intends to deploy a follow-up process with one (1) party for the further development of the prototype.

The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security has awarded a contract to Eau de Web SRL, Bucharest (RO) to supply new Functionalities for Open Cyber Situational Awareness Machine (OpenCSAM). 

The objective of the “Open Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Machine” is to optimize the production of cybersecurity situation awareness reports, by applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques for the automatic classification and generation of documents.

The buyer received 3 bids and had initially estimated that the project would cost EUR 100,000. However the contract was awarded  to Eau de Web SRL at EUR 81,220.

There are quite a few EU publications on AI. A selection is listed below:

PDF/E-book/Paper

Artificial Intelligence, A European perspective

This report aims to present an independent European perspective on AI underpinned by original research and not focused on any single policy domain. It provides a balanced assessment of the opportunities and challenges involved in supporting the development of European action in the global field of AI. It comes at a time when many European countries are developing national strategies to embrace this technological field and prepare society for the changes it will bring.Available in English

PDF

Should we Fear Artificial Intelligence?

In depth analysis - Study

The path to a more automated society, in which human intelligence is not the only complex one, is not free from danger and fear. Our ancestrally pessimistic bias makes us see things as worse than they actually are and systematically oppose technological progress. So, can we be optimistic about AI? Can we trust that it will benefit society? This study deals with such questions and with aspects that are particularly useful for politicians and legislators.

Available in English, French and Spanish

PDF/Paper

Data Quality and Artificial Intelligence

Mitigating bias and error to protect fundamental rights

This paper sets out to contribute to the many ongoing policy discussions around AI by highlighting an aspect that needs attention from a fundamental rights perspective: the need for good data quality. Algorithms can only be as good as the data used for their development. AI systems based on incomplete or biased data can lead to inaccurate outcomes that infringe on people's fundamental rights. This is especially important in the era of big data, where quantity is sometimes valued more than quality.

Available in English

Study

The impact of artificial intelligence on learning, teaching, and education

This report describes the current state of the art in AI and its potential impact on learning, teaching and education. It provides conceptual foundations for well-informed policy-oriented work, research and forward-looking activities that address the opportunities and challenges created by the recent developments in the field.

Available in English

Artificial Intelligence:  What implications for EU security and defence?

Imagine a world where human decision-making and thought processes play less of a role in the day-to-day functioning of society. Now think of the impact this would have on the security and defence sector. Indeed, it is likely that over the next few decades the development of AI will have major implications for this sector. This publication examines what these implications may be.

Available in English

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