FARI hosts its first conference on AI, Data, and Robotics for the Common Good
11 May 2022
Brussels – FARI AI for the Common Good Institute holds an international conference on AI, Data, and Robotics for the Common Good on July 5 and 6, 2022 at the Bozar – Fine Arts Centre in Brussels, Belgium.
This is FARI’s first international conference of its kind, free to the public that will attract over 300 participants from the Brussels region, Belgium, Europe, and beyond. The conference will gather world-renowned experts, researchers, policy-makers, and advocates in and of AI, Data, and Robotics from prominent institutions: UNESCO, CLAIRE, MILA (Canada), The GovLab NYU (USA), Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence: ICAI (Netherlands), and many others. There will also be representatives from the Belgian Federal Government, Brussels-Capital administration, universities, industry, and civic organisations.
“We expect the FARI conference to bring together a wide diversity of stakeholders, to create and strengthen a dialogue amongst them to better define what does AI for the Common Good mean (or not). We hope to see concrete examples to understand how such technologies could be implemented to address pressing challenges: the climate crisis, and health crisis to name a few – while protecting fundamental rights and ethical standards. Ultimately, we want to have more inspiration on what could be done for Brussels.” said Carl Mörch, FARI Manager from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
In parallel to its rise in recent years, the AI field has been increasingly expected to shift towards a more responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, Data, or Robotics towards the Common Good. It has as a consequence observed a burgeoning of private and public institutions working in that direction.
Hans de Canck, FARI Manager from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), noted, “ This conference wants to inspire and exchange best practices in AI, Data and Robotics innovation for the Common Good, as well as it will be able to share state of art and new insights from academic research as well as applied innovation projects. The Conference is a true platform to connect Open Innovation Decision-makers in Brussels with regional and European & International counterparts.”
FARI focuses on Brussels and coexists alongside other regional efforts such as the Flander AI Plan, TRAIL, Wallonia.AI and national initiatives such as AI4Belgium. They all want to reinforce AI AI innovation and a transparent and fair digital transition of our society. FARI puts multidisciplinary research and citizen engagement at the forefront of all its activities. It strongly believes its focus on Sustainable AI and Urban AI could contribute to an AI for the Common Good approach for all.
Supported by the European Union’s NexGeneration EU program, Innoviris, and CIRB, this two-day conference will hold discussions on current trends in AI, Data, and Robotics and their impact on the Brussels region, also in the hope to inspire and stir actionable responses in creating a Brussels AI framework that is sustainable, inclusive, and comprehensive.
The first day will involve panel discussions on the topics of “The challenges of defining AI, Data and Robotics for the Common Good”, “International and local initiatives in AI, Data and Robotics for the Common Good”, and thereafter followed by a reception dinner at the Bozar’s Horta Gallery hall.
Day two will include interactive thematic sessions on “How to involve and mobilise citizens more around AI, Data and Robotics?”, “Can AI be transparent and fair? A legal perspective”, “Are Robots sustainable?”, and “How are AI and Data used by and for cities?”.
You can register now for free via our website: https://conference.fari.brussels/
About FARI AI for the Common Good Institute
FARI AI for the Common Good Institute is an independent non-for-profit Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative based on Data and Robotics led by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), as part of the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience. Supported by the European Union’s Next GenerationEU project, Innoviris, and CIRB, this Institute brings together world-leading and future researchers.
FARI aims to help citizens, public administrations, politicians, and companies as well as not-for-profit organisations to address local, every day or long-term challenges in the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium, and Europe. It reinforces a virtuous circle: our society and economy encounter problems that FARI can help address with projects that in turn could lead to major scientific advances, especially in the fields of Responsible and Trustworthy AI, Open Data, and Fundamental Rights Protection by Design in AI, and Human-Centered Robotics. FARI represents over fifteen disciplines from the Computer Sciences to Humanities and works with over three hundred researchers, and ten research labs based at VUB and ULB.
About NextGenerationEU
NextGenerationEU is a temporary recovery instrument of over €800 billion to help repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Post-COVID-19 Europe will be greener, more digital, more resilient, and better suited to current and future challenges.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU, is endowed with €723.8 billion in loans and grants to support reforms and investments undertaken by EU countries. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and to make European economies and societies more sustainable, more resilient, and better prepared for the challenges posed by the green and digital transitions and the opportunities that they offer.
FARI AI for the Common Good Institute falls within the framework of these priorities established by the Brussels Government as well as at European level, and particularly concerns the axis of sustainability and innovation, digital transformation, mobility, social and living together, the economy of the future and productivity.
For more information please contact:
Email: conference@fari.brussels
Conference website: https://conference.fari.brussels/
FARI website: https://fari.brussels/