EMBRAISME

TITLE OF THE PROJECT:

embrAIsme : IMPROVING CONDITIONS AND POLICIES FOR SMEs TO EMBRACE AI

GENERAL DATA:

Program: INTERREG EUROPE 2021-2027
Reference: 02C0379
RESOLUTION Date: 10/04/2024
Execution date: 01/04/2024-31/03/2028

PRESENTATION AND OBJECTIVES:

The driver of the next wave of digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI), has gained prominence and is considered fundamental to the digital transformation of society. The use of AI has brought about remarkable changes in various economic sectors, such as healthcare, industry, commerce and transportation, offering remarkable gains in productivity and efficiency. Its main business applications include automation, image and face recognition, natural language processing, data analytics and decision making, the latter including better information management and predictive capabilities.

While awareness of AI is almost universal, its adoption varies widely across countries, sectors and company sizes, posing a challenge for economic development and regional competitiveness. Companies tend to fall into one of two groups: adopters (42%) currently using at least one AI technology and non-adopters (40%). Early adopters of artificial intelligence have generally been large corporations or highly specialized small start-ups with access to the technological know-how required for earlier forms of AI implementation. By 2020, 39% of large EU companies were using 2 or more AI technologies compared to only 22% of small companies. SMEs face a number of barriers to adopting AI. To name just a few: lack of awareness and data readiness, lack of human capital and skills, lack of funding, lack of networks and collaboration, and reputational, commercial and legal risks.

The overall objective of embrAIsme is to improve policies and programs to encourage the adoption of AI by SMEs, regardless of their location, size and sector. The specific objectives of the project are:

• Raising awareness of AI and improving data preparation for AI
• Investing in human capital and skills
• Facilitating access to financing
• Promoting networking and cooperation
• Strengthening the governance of AI/SME policies
• Better consider legal and ethical issues.

PARTICIPATING ENTITIES:

Austria Wirtschaftsservice.
Business Agency Association.
Technological Institute of Aragon.
Innovation Technology AtlanTec Gateway (itag).
Business Tampere Oy.
Business Development Institute of the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
Ministry of Digital Transformation.
University of Ljubljana.
The Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia.

BUDGET:

TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET: 2,521,482 €
TOTAL ITA BUDGET: 260,764 €.

FINANCING:

TOTAL PROJECT GRANT: 1.967.024,2 €
TOTAL FUNDING ITA: 208.611,20 €.

The EMBRAISME project is 80% funded by the European Interreg Europe Program whose reference is 02C0379.

https://www.interregeurope.eu/embraisme