Giving Europe the edge in AI advancements
The EU-funded dAIEDGE project has just launched its second open call to support research projects developing solutions that leverage the power of AI at the edge. Through such calls, dAIEDGE is uniting leading European research centres, universities and industrial partners in an innovative edge AI ecosystem and dynamic network of excellence. Its aim is to advance Europe’s innovation and technology base and make it a world leader in data economy innovation. The open call is the second of three calls and follows the successful first call that attracted 146 applications from researchers across the globe and resulted in 36 complete proposals representing 21 countries. The second call is open to research and technology organisations, universities, SMEs and start-ups from EU Member States, associated countries and Horizon Europe participant countries. Entities can apply individually or as a consortium of up to two entities. Up to 10 proposals will be selected. The winning projects will receive maximum EUR 60 000 to address specific industrial challenges defined by the dAIEDGE consortium, over a period of up to 7 months. This period will be divided into two key stages: a 1-month planning phase (with funding up to EUR 9 000), and a 6-month implementation phase (with up to EUR 51 000). During the planning phase, beneficiaries need to deliver an individual mentoring plan, including planned activities, key performance indicators, milestones and budget. The implementation phase should result in a proof of demonstration that the design, product or process meets the specified requirements.
Issuing the challenge
A total of 20 industrial challenges have been identified for the second call. They include mobile hidden weapon detection systems, continuous learning-based edge robotics, energy-efficient AI solutions, machine learning benchmarks for on-board processing in space applications, and deploying large language models on low-memory edge devices. Participants will be able to use resources from the dAIEDGE Virtual Lab, add new tools to it, or reuse existing dAIEDGE project developments or use cases. They will also be guided by dAIEDGE technical experts in developing and showcasing their solutions throughout the 7-month period. The deadline for proposal submissions is 13 March 2025. To assist interested parties, dAIEDGE hosted one informative webinar in January and a second is scheduled for 27 February. An online tutorial is also available on YouTube to guide applicants through the submission process.
Workshops and stands
From 20 to 22 January 2025, dAIEDGE (A network of excellence for distributed, trustworthy, efficient and scalable AI at the Edge) also took part in the HiPEAC Conference held in Barcelona, Spain. The two workshops organised by the project during the 3 days focused on excellence in AI and edge computing (20 January) and accelerated machine learning (21 January). dAIEDGE also had a stand (number 23) at the event, offering attendees the opportunity to learn about the consortium’s projects and use cases and discover how it is positioning Europe as a world leader in the data economy. For more information, please see: dAIEDGE project website
Keywords
dAIEDGE, edge, AI, AI at the edge, data economy, open call
