Indivd engaged in the digitization of the EU

Dr.-Leonard-Johard.-Co-founder-Lead-Scientist-Head-of-AI-at-Indivd

Indivd’s AI expert Leonard Johard has been invited to participate in the European Digital SME Alliance working group focusing on AI. The organization reports to the European Commission and monitors, among other things, AI and the consequences for smaller companies’ ability to influence EU decisions in the area of digitalization.

The European Digital SME Alliance is a community of small and medium-sized IT companies. Its members are national and sectoral digital SMEs and associations in 30 countries and regions within the EU. Together, they in turn represent more than 20,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. The European Digital SME Alliance is a member of SME United, which is the joint European organization of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Together with the European Commission’s joint research center JRC, the European Digital SME Alliance has started several working groups, including one focusing on artificial intelligence. Leonard Johard has been invited to participate in this based on his well-proven expertise in AI.

New focus group for AI in Europe

About 60 small and medium-sized European companies directly participate in the AI working group, and there are around 100 similar companies in the entire innovation network.

– The working group for AI monitors the development, uptake, and effects of AI in Europe according to the EU’s coordinated plan for artificial intelligence, which was adopted in December 2018, says Leonard Johard.

The working group will help the European Commission to understand the adoption, use, and effects of AI and related technologies. It should define the current state of adoption and use of AI and follow what changes through the introduction of AI tools when, for example, management changes and data integration, production, support, or management processes. It will also monitor AI’s social and economic effects on, for example, skills, recruitment, and relations between employers and employees.

– We are currently working on a report on the consequences for and smaller companies’ ability to influence EU decisions in the area of digitization. Together with the EU Digitization Group, we also hold joint discussions on the importance of AI and its consequences with, among others, the European Parliament. Our work will be important feedback to future legislation and sanctions within the EU, Leonard Johard concludes.