The first five projects from Inria’s partnership with the DFKI

In January 2020, Inria and Germany’s DFKI research institute signed a memorandum of understanding geared towards working together on artificial intelligence projects. The aim is to draw on the skillsets of the two institute’s researchers in order to tackle current issues, principally in the fields of health, cybersecurity, robotics and manufacturing.

Our national plans on the subject of artificial intelligence encourage bilateral partnerships between research institutes from the two countries. The DFKI and Inria share a similar, open vision when it comes to artificial intelligence, paving the way for new opportunities to strengthen our partnership through concrete projects, whether bilaterally or at a European level.

                                                                      Bruno Sportisse, Inria CEO

Brought together at a seminar held at the Inria Nancy Grand-Est research centre, a hundred or so researchers from across Inria’s centres worked hand-in-hand with their German counterparts to come up with joint research subjects. “It was a bit of a gamble because they didn’t know each other, and there was a risk that they wouldn’t interact much. In the end, the opposite happened: the discussions were intense, the participants were enthusiastic, and they came up with a range of themes that we will look to explore together”, explains Bruno Lévy, director of the Inria Nancy Grand-Est research centre.

In the end, five projects were selected following a joint evaluation by Inria and the DFKI. These projects, which are primarily focused on the health and manufacturing sectors, now have between 2 and 5 years to meet their objectives.