Last week, Sara Martins, the Portuguese Ambassador in Sweden, visited Umeå University to meet Professor Virginia Dignum and Assistant Professor Pedro Sanches to strengthen the network of European AI research.
The development and implications of artificial intelligence (AI) is going to have a large scale impact on individuals, organisations, and countries. Due to this, many countries are now working for “good AI” and are seeking to find collaboration across borders to establish legal, ethical, economic aspects, among others. Financing research on the consequences and opportunities of AI-technology in society, The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Sofware Program – Humanities and Society (WASP-HS) is a ten year long research program aiming to conduct excellent research on this discussion.
In June 2019, the Portuguese Government presented the national strategy AI Portugal 2030 to set the country’s challenges and opportunities for the growing AI ecosystem in Portugal. This week, Sara Martins, Portuguese Ambassador in Sweden, visited Umeå University to discuss AI collaborations with Professor Virginia Dignum, WASP-HS Program Director, and WASP-HS Assistant Professor Pedro Sanches.
“We discussed the necessity of creating a strong network of European researchers and industries within AI, with a particular focus on strengthening the ties between Sweden and Portugal, to facilitate international collaboration and responsible innovation of AI” says Pedro Sanches.
“During the meeting we also had the opportunity to introduce the WASP-HS program and the research that is currently being conducted” adds Professor Virginia Dignum.
It was further agreed that a joint conference will take place in Stockholm this fall at which Portuguese and Swedish (SME) companies and researchers will be brought together to bring the discussion further.
