Stakeholders from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark are now laying the foundation for a Nordic AI Center focused on the responsible development and use of AI. The initiative is co-financed by Nordic Innovation.
The Nordic region has the potential to generate significant societal benefits and competitive advantages by improving collaboration on AI, while also addressing major societal challenges. Therefore, AI Sweden, in collaboration with AI Finland and IKT-Norway, has been tasked by Nordic Innovation to develop a proposal for a Nordic AI Center focused on AI application and development.
"In June this year, the Nordic Ethical AI Expert Group presented five concrete proposals to the Nordic Ministers of Business and Digitalization, focusing on supporting Nordic businesses. One of the AI recommendations involves gathering Nordic knowledge and resources to create a platform for exchange through a Nordic Center for Responsible AI.
Over the past five years, AI Sweden has successfully established a national AI center. We are now looking forward to developing this model on a Nordic level in a preliminary project to determine the structure, funding model, and potential partners for such a center. The goal is to prepare the groundwork to establish a new Nordic Center for Responsible AI by early 2025," says Svein Berg, Managing Director, Nordic Innovation
The center aims to drive co-investment in strategic resources, increase AI usage, and create even stronger international competitiveness and attractiveness for the region. The ambition is to create real excellence and relevance for leading Nordic companies and organizations. The center will be open to partnerships with relevant stakeholders from across the Nordic and Baltic regions.
"We see an opportunity to address some of the really big challenges together in the Nordic region and are eager to contribute AI Sweden’s experience and knowledge to this end," says Martin Svensson, Managing Director, AI Sweden.
Currently, the Nordic countries lag behind leading nations in AI, such as the USA, Canada, the UK, and Singapore, in terms of investment and adoption of AI technology. According to the Global AI Index, Finland ranks highest at 10th place, followed by Denmark at 16th, Sweden at 17th, Norway at 24th, and Iceland at 40th. This indicates significant room for improvement and increased collaboration within the region to strengthen its position on the global AI stage.
"Enhanced cooperation on AI benefits the competitiveness of the entire Nordic region while contributing to the responsible and sustainable development of the technology. To avoid falling behind, we need to prioritize the use of AI, both nationally and jointly," says Erik Slottner, Swedish Minister for Civil Administration.
The preparatory work for the center will include identifying partnership models and partners, funding, and activities.
With a combined population of 27 million people and an economy that ranks as the 10th largest in the world, the Nordic region is also a significant player, making it relevant for collaboration with other leading AI countries and organizations.
"Responsible use and development of AI is crucial if we are to maintain trust in our societies and become the world's most green, competitive, and integrated region by 2030. At the Nordic Council of Ministers, we are proud to serve as a platform for this important collaboration," says Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
About AI Sweden
AI Sweden is the national center for applied AI and brings together close to 140 partners across the public and private sectors as well as academia. AI Sweden is funded by the Swedish government and our partners, both public and private. Together, they invest in generating tools and resources to accelerate the use of AI for the benefit of our society, our competitiveness, and everyone living in Sweden.
About the Nordic Council of Ministers
The Nordic Council of Ministers is the official body for inter-governmental co-operation in the Nordic Region. It seeks Nordic solutions wherever and whenever the countries can achieve more together than by working on their own.
About Nordic Innovation
Nordic Innovation is an organization under the Nordic Council of Ministers. The aim is to make the Nordics a pioneering region for sustainable growth by promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness in Nordic businesses.Nordic Innovation supports the Nordic prime ministers’ vision that the Nordic region will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world in 2030.
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