Greece will host one of the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factories in Europe. The Ministry of Digital Governance’s proposal for the project “Pharos – The Greek AI Factory for accelerating AI innovation”, has been approved under the EU’s EuroHPC Joint Undertaking AI Factories initiative. In the Greek consortium, which is coordinated by the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET S.A.), participates the National Documentation Centre (EKT).
The “Pharos” project will serve as a hub for academia, research, the public sector, and private enterprises, aiming to develop innovative AI-driven services. Its focus will span the sectors of Health, Culture and Language and Sustainability (energy, environment, climate). In doing so, it will play a crucial role in fostering the growth and ongoing support of an innovative and competitive ecosystem of startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
The project has a total budget of €30 million, funded 50% by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and 50% by National Resources. The project is scheduled to commence in March 2025, with a total duration of 36 months.
This initiative is a flagship project under the Blueprint for Greece’s AI Transformation, developed by the High Level Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI) The project will leverage the high-performance computing infrastructure of the “DAEDALUS” supercomputer, enabling seamless collaboration with other European infrastructures. The cooperation amongst AI Factories across countries, will ensure the collective data produced can be utilized for the benefit of all European citizens.
More specifically, an ecosystem of innovative best practices will be developed in Greece that will:
- Enhance competitiveness by providing advanced computational resources, access to big data, and specialised human expertise.
- Support the development of reliable AI services aligned with European AI regulations (AI Act).
- Promote innovation in the targeted key industrial sectors, i.e. sustainability, through satellite data analysis for natural resource management and mitigating the effects of climate change.
- Invest in human capital via training programs, fostering academic collaborations, upskilling and attracting talent in the AI domain.
- Ensure innovation by connecting with other relevant initiatives, such as European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), Data Spaces, National Competence Centers (NCCs), and key projects such as DeployAI, ALT-EDIC4EU, LLMs4EU, amongst others.
- Foster a cross-border innovation ecosystem through AI, delivering widespread benefits for all EU countries.
The “Pharos” project will be managed and operated by the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), operating under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance. The Greek AI Factory Pharos is coordinated by a consortium of partners which include the National Centre for Scientific Research DEMOKRITOS (NCSRD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), the Athena Research Center, and the GrowthFund, in close collaboration with the Special Secretariat of Foresight of the Government. Affiliated Bodies include: a) The National Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), b) Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), c) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), d) Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), e) University of Piraeus (UNIPI), as well as the National Documentation Centre (EKT) and IDIKA S.A., both operating under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance.
As part of the project, the National Documentation Centre (EKT) will play a central role in the development and implementation of a comprehensive suite of Artificial Intelligence services for the Greek language and culture. The goal is to create data spaces for language and culture, prepare data for AI use, develop open AI models, and support SMEs through specialized tools and development environments (sandboxes).
The First AI Factories in Europe
The Greek proposal, "Pharos – The Greek AI Factory for accelerating AI innovation," is one of seven projects selected by EuroHPC for the creation and operation of the first AI Factories across Europe. This initiative marks a strategic move to advance artificial intelligence in Europe by providing essential infrastructure and services to support researchers, businesses, and innovation stakeholders.
The selection of these seven proposals by the European Commission represents a significant milestone in fostering the development of a robust ecosystem for training advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models and creating AI solutions. These AI Factories are expected to position Europe as a global leader in artificial intelligence.
The first phase of the AI Factories involves an investment of €1.5 billion, combining national and European funding. Half of the funding comes from the EU through the Digital Europe Programme for AI infrastructure and Horizon Europe for AI services.
The selected AI Factories will be hosted at leading research and technology centers across Europe:
- Barcelona, Spain: "BSC AIF" at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre
- Bologna, Italy: "IT4LIA" at CINECA - Bologna Tecnopolo
- Kajaani, Finland: "LUMI AIF" at CSC
- Bissen, Luxembourg: "Meluxina-AI" at LuxProvide
- Linköping, Sweden: "MIMER" at Linköping University
- Stuttgart, Germany: "HammerHAI" at the University of Stuttgart
- Athens, Greece: "Pharos" at GRNET
AI Factories will bring together all aspects vital for success in artificial intelligence: computational power, data, and skills. They will provide access to the massive computational resources required by startups, industry, and researchers to develop AI models and systems. For instance, these factories will support the development of European large language models or specialized vertical AI models focused on specific sectors or domains.
AI Factories will boost new industrial applications of AI and offer startups and SMEs the opportunity to thrive in key strategic areas for the EU, including health and life sciences, manufacturing, climate and environment, finance, automotive systems and autonomous technologies, cybersecurity, agritech and agri-food, education, arts and culture, the green economy, and space exploration.
AI ecosystems are expected to grow around EuroHPC supercomputers, connecting universities, research centers, supercomputing facilities, industry, and economic stakeholders. This will link excellence and expertise with the economic opportunities necessary for business development and expansion.
Μάθετε Περισσότερα
- Pharos - The Greek AI Factory for accelerating AI innovation
- Joint press release by Ministry of Digital Governance and other members of the consortium
- Seven consortia selected to establish AI factories which will boost AI innovation in the EU (European Commission)
- Selection of the First Seven AI Factories to Drive Europe's Leadership in AI (EuroHPC)
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