AI Act compliance made easier: Help is on its way for SMEs developing AI solutions
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The SMEs working on AI solutions need to comply with the new EU regulation. The AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024 with a stepwise rollout of the requirements, which depend on the risk levels of the AI system.
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AI Regulatory sandboxes, as envisioned by the AI Act, provide a controlled environment where SMEs can test and validate AI solutions under real-world conditions while receiving regulatory guidance.
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Make the actual implementation of AI regulatory sandboxes address your most important compliance barriers through the EUSAiR initiative! Taking part in the AI Regulatory Sandbox survey not only grants you early access to the sandbox co-creation platform but allows you to directly voice the specific needs, requirements and concerns of your SME, which will be taken into account when developing the frameworks for sandboxes.
Participate in the EUSAiR Survey!
To ensure the AI Regulatory Sandbox framework is tailored to the needs of AI innovators, EUSAiR invites SMEs to participate in a short survey. By taking part, you will:
- Tailor the design of the EU-wide AI Regulatory Sandbox Framework (Union AI Sandbox Framework) to your needs and expectations.
- Be a part of a growing EU AI Community and get an early invite to co-creation workshops with national authorities.
- Receive updates from EUSAiR on sandbox developments and early sandbox participation opportunities.
- Highlight your key challenges, needs and expectations in AI regulatory compliance and AI innovation.
- Help shape policies that directly impact AI stakeholders like yourself.
Your input is essential in shaping a regulatory environment that fosters innovation while ensuring compliance. Participate in the survey and help shape the future of AI regulation in the EU!
The AI Act: A Risk-Based Regulatory Framework
The AI Act, proposed by the European Commission, is the world’s first comprehensive legal framework dedicated to artificial intelligence. It categorizes AI systems into four risk levels:
- Unacceptable Risk: AI applications that are outright banned
- High Risk: AI used in critical sectors requiring strict compliance with transparency, data governance, and human oversight measures.
- Limited Risk: AI systems which must adhere to transparency obligations to inform users about their AI nature.
- Minimal Risk: AI applications which require no specific regulatory obligations.
Source: European Commission (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai)
For SMEs working with AI, the AI Act means increased compliance obligations depending on the category of AI they develop or use. The AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024 with a phased rollout of requirements and with full enforcement expected by August 2027. SMEs need to prepare now to ensure compliance and minimize market entry risks.
AI Regulatory Sandboxes: A Lifeline for SMEs
To support innovation while ensuring compliance, the AI Act introduces Regulatory Sandboxes—controlled environments where AI developers can test new technologies while working closely with regulators. These sandboxes provide SMEs with:
- Guidance on meeting AI Act compliance requirements.
- Opportunities to refine AI models in a controlled safe environment without immediate regulatory consequences.
- Collaboration with national supervisory authorities and regulation experts to address compliance challenges.
By participating in sandboxes, SMEs can significantly reduce regulatory uncertainty and compliance costs, ensuring smoother and faster market entry for their AI solutions.
EUSAiR: Bridging innovation and compliance in AI
EUSAiR is an initiative funded by the European Commission aimed at facilitating the implementation of AI Regulatory Sandboxes across the EU and building standardized frameworks upon which they will operate. AI regulatory sandboxes, which EUSAiR will support and coordinate, will prioritize access to sandboxes for AI innovators, particularly SMEs and startups, helping them reduce compliance costs and ease their market entry. EUSAiR utilizes a data-driven approach where framework development relies heavily on the input from the main stakeholders at hand, therefore taking part in the survey allows you to directly influence policy implementation.
The two-year project is led by the Italian Research Center on High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing and involves academic excellence (Universities of Bologna and Florence, University of Turku, and Haaga-Helia), national authorities (ACN), the world’s leading supercomputing centres (BSC, CINECA, CSC), the largest network of digital SMEs in Europe (European DIGITAL SME Alliance) and organizations specialized in responsible AI (ALLAI and TUV AI Lab) and processes of communication and co-creation (LOBA).
