The Netherlands must lead the way in artificial intelligence. Several initiatives must give our country superpowers.
Last week can safely be called the week of artificial intelligence, after several initiatives were presented to make our country more powerful in this field and a large congress was held as well. Various media covered the topic, which has been a hot topic for a few years now.
To start with, five major companies presented the collaborative initiative Kickstart AI on Thursday 10 October, in which a number of universities are also participating. Ahold Delhaize, ING, KLM, NS and Philips want to boost the AI ecosystem in the Netherlands by promoting and accelerating the development of AI technology and encouraging AI talent in the country. These efforts aim to increase educational capacity, promote the development of the AI community in the Netherlands and highlight the Netherlands' position as a competitive and relevant global AI knowledge hub.
Catching up
According to stakeholders, there is still a battle to be fought compared to other countries. For instance, the UK, the US and China are further ahead than us in the field of artificial intelligence. "To maintain the Netherlands' position as a pioneer and inventor of new technologies, the Dutch government, companies, organisations and universities must bridge a gap regarding structural investments and the availability of global AI talent."
Daily life
The five companies initiating Kickstart AI argue for the crucial expansion of local knowledge and local talent to ethically implement artificial intelligence that not only focuses on what is technically possible, but also meets the ethical and social standards that Dutch society may expect. Collaboration between these five companies, government, industry and other technology providers helps address societal challenges, offers new opportunities for youth and accelerates the introduction of artificial intelligence in the Netherlands. For consumers, artificial intelligence offers opportunities to improve their daily lives, such as with more personalised service and more convenience and choices in many areas, including food, travel, health and finance.
Kickstart AI includes the following initiatives:
1) AI superchallenges: A competition to raise the global profile of the Netherlands by mobilising global AI talent to tackle societal challenges, such as health and mobility.
2) Joint academic appointments: Invest in public-private partnerships through joint appointments of professors and university (head) teachers, giving the next generation of AI talent access to education, training and leading academics. The first commitment is the creation of 5 joint appointments at academic institutions in the Netherlands by each pioneering company in Kickstart AI, creating a total of 25 positions.
3) National AI Course: As part of a broader effort to increase the knowledge and acceptance of AI in the Netherlands, Kickstart AI companies will not only promote the National AI Course to the general public and their own staff, but also make it available in English so that a target number of 170,000 enrolments in the Netherlands by the end of 2020 is achieved.
Urgency
Maarten de Rijke, professor at the University of Amsterdam and director of the Innovation Centre for Artificial Intelligence, says of the introduction of Kickstart AI: "The Netherlands has always been a technological pioneer, a forerunner in the development and innovation of AI. The quality of our AI specialists is recognised worldwide. But without a national AI strategy and swift action, the severe shortage of AI talent in our country remains one of the biggest obstacles in reaching the full potential of AI talent and technology. The joint efforts of universities and companies under the Kickstart AI banner underscore the urgency of accelerating AI education and talent retention, and shows how committed we are to collaboration and the investment needed to accelerate artificial intelligence innovation in the Netherlands."
Earlier this week, the Strategic Action Plan on AI (SAPAI) and the Dutch AI Coalition also saw the light of day. These also aim to jointly maintain the growth and competitiveness of the Dutch economy. The aim of the Dutch AI Coalition (NL AIC) launched on Tuesday 8 October is to organise cooperation and exchange between the various application areas of AI, so that the wheel does not have to be invented everywhere at the same time. The FME, trade association for the technology industry, supports this initiative. It has itself been working since early 2019 on the FME Platform AI, an action programme aimed at accelerating the wider application of AI within the industry. "It is in everyone's interest that we work together in the Netherlands and FME is therefore joining the Dutch AI Coalition," it said.
In the same week, Utrecht University expressed its desire to expand its Artificial Intelligence programme. It therefore wants to get rid of the numerus fixus, whereby it can only admit a certain number of students. The UU says the programme is not only wildly popular, but also "in high demand on the labour market". It will also invest an additional three million euros in research and education around AI.
A survey last year by HPE and Industry of Things Worlds, Europe's largest IoT conference, showed that the manufacturing industry also sees opportunities in artificial intelligence. The European manufacturing industry expects to realise over 11 per cent sales growth by 2030 due to the technology. The industry especially expects a lot from AI around its potential for greater efficiency, flexibility and differentiation.
Source: KLM/FME
