Agoria
What?For whom?How? By whom?

 

Your starting point for next-level innovation with Artificial Intelligence in Brussels

 

What?

Digital technologies will be essential to many companies in Brussel trying to build up a future-proof business.

However, successful adoption of digital technologies comes with challenges: how to choose and test technology solutions? What skills do you need to acquire? What type of investments are needed and where can you find those? How do you establish partnerships? How do you do this in a sustainable way so that it positively impacts our society and environment?

As five major actors in the Brussels digital ecosystem, Sirris, Agoria, ULB, VUB and BeCentral have joined forces to leverage the transition towards a future-proof and sustainable economy for Brussels, enabled by AI and other emerging digital technologies.

With the support of Innoviris, the Brussels regional innovation office, and in line with the European Commission’s digital strategy “EDIH call”, the goal is to create a European digital innovation hub in Brussels and to position this hub as a single point of access to sustainable digital innovation in Brussels with a focus on AI and other emerging technologies. Hence the name: sustAIn.brussels

 

For whom?

As a highly innovative center, SustAIn.Brussels intends to serve all Brussels based companies that have (serious) digital aspirations.

These could be for-profit companies, impact companies, SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, but the scope also includes all other interested parties.

 

How?

This European digital innovation hub will provide access to technical expertise and experimentation as well as the possibility to 'test before invest', in order to help companies improve their business/production processes, products, or services by implementing AI or other emerging technologies. It will also provide innovation services, such as financing advice, training and skills development that are needed to support innovation. Sustainability and environmental aspects are also taken into account, in a framework helping companies to positively contribute towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (e.g.: lower energy consumption or low carbon emissions).

The hub will not only have a local impact but also perform a European function, serving as a gateway to and from Europe to actively spot opportunities for Brussels stakeholders and vice versa; to collaborate as digital enablers for SDGs with other hubs across Europe. 

 

 

By whom?

  1. Sirris, the leading research center in Belgium, is the overall coordinator of the project and will lead the “test before invest” pillar.
  2. Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) are the largest universities of respectively the French and Dutch speaking communities in Brussels. They both will provide state-of-the-art knowledge to all services and daily operations especially those linked to AI , Data and Robotics and the SDGs (FARI - AI for the Common Good FARI Institute)
  3. Agoria, the national trade association of the tech industry in Belgium, will contribute to the networking, community and innovation ecosystem building pillar. 
  4. BeCentral, the main digital campus in Brussels, will contribute to finding investment and funding​ as well as help gather skills & training opportunities. The hub will also physically be hosted in the vibrant BeCentral office spaces.
  5. Other key supporting public partners are Innoviris Brussels, Incubators.brussels​, Hub.brussels​, Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)​, Bruxelles Economie et Emploi (BEE)​ , Finance&Invest.brussels, Bruxelles Formation, VDAB and AI4Belgium​.

Furthermore, there are also many other non-cited private partners involved:


 

Want to collaborate

Are you a Belgian or EU player, interested in this concept and willing to contribute? Are you a company in Brussels with digital ambitions?

Please contact Ludwig De Locht, Digital Transformation Ambassador Sirris, +32 474 96 44 89

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