The potential is enormous: Artificial Intelligence (AI) can act as a decisive enabler for other technologies in various fields. Some compare the potential impact of AI to that of the spread of electricity at the end of the 19^th century. Electricity had an enabling effect on existing machinery and processes, which led to further innovation. Similarly, AI may be able to transform a variety of processes in different sectors. At the same time, Europe is struggling to follow the US and China in bringing about AI-based innovation.

Massimo Craglia, lead scientist at the Digital Economy Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, together with Segolene Martin, CEO and co-founder of Kantify and Toni Luhti, CEO of Platform of Trust will contribute to the conversation “AI in the EU: What are the bottlenecks for SMEs?”, moderated by our Secretary-General Sebastiano Toffaletti. The conversation will be live-streamed on Thursday, 30 April 14.00 CET, on our Youtube, Twitter and Facebook pages.

With this debate, DIGITAL SME would like to shed light on the bottlenecks that limit the uptake of AI by SMEs in Europe. What needs to be done in terms of regulation, finance and policy? At  the same time, we would like to discuss practical AI solutions in times of COVID-19: Are there AI-based best practices developed by SMEs to help fight the virus outbreak? The speakers are members of the SME Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) which European DIGITAL SME Alliance is launching together with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the purpose to help to gain a better understanding of how SMEs adopt and use AI.