43 European partners from 18 countries and 15 regions are working together on the EU-funded AI REDGIO 5.0 project. AI REDGIO 5.0 focuses on the development and implementation of regional self-management initiatives between EU member states. The objective is to encourage competing technologies – such as AI and digital twinning – for regional SMEs. Together with the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform, Oost NL is a partner in the program, offering access to a field lab and open calls. The project officially launched in January 2023.

Impact for the East Netherlands region

From the East Netherlands region, two organizations are participating in the project, regional development agency Oost NL and Fraunhofer Innovation Platform (FIP). The FIP is an open innovation center for digital transition in manufacturing, whose core activities are application-oriented research, demonstrations and knowledge transfer. Regional SMEs can take advantage of these facilities. The focus is on AI applications that benefit the environment.

In addition to their participation, the AI REDGIO project includes application experiments, in which SMEs can test AI solutions for their business cases through funding. This funding will be distributed through open calls, for which organizations from the eastern Netherlands can also apply. The first round of open calls will be launched in December 2023. Per project, €60,000 will be made available for this purpose.

AI REDGIO 5.0 builds on prior initiatives

The European Union has been committed to digitising SMEs and making manufacturing smarter for years. The AI REDGIO 5.0 project is part of Horizon Europe and follows previous initiatives that connect European regions and provide tools for companies to provide solutions for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

This led, among other things, to a focused AI4Manufacturing Toolkit with data and AI resources, a network of didactic factories and their TEchnology and REgulatory SAndboxes (TERESA), an ecosystem of experiments set up by SMEs and their digital transformation pathways.

To follow up on such initiatives, while developments in the AI field are moving at tremendously fast pace, AI REDGIO 5.0 was created. AI REDGIO 5.0 aims to accelerate the development of AI technologies for SMEs in the manufacturing industry and convert them into practice. Through collaboration between regions, EDIHs (European Digital Innovation Hubs), AI suppliers and SMEs, new services can be developed and SMEs can experiment with AI solutions for their business. This will allow them to make their production processes more efficient and effective in order to improve their competitive position.

More information

Are you also interested in the possibility of AI for your business processes? Then contact AI Hub East Netherlands.