TRAIL – ARIAC Project

Project Overview: The TRAIL (Trusted AI Labs) initiative was launched on September 10, 2020 in the presence of the Minister-President of the Walloon Government, with the support of the Digital Wallonia strategy. It is more specifically part of the DigitalWallonia4.ai regional program which aims to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence technologies in Wallonia. TRAIL brings together the five French-speaking universities and the four approved Walloon research centers (CRA). Its ambition is to pool research in artificial intelligence in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. This ambition is now reflected in concrete terms through the “ARIAC by DigitalWallonia4.ai” research project, based on an agreement between the Walloon Region and the players forming the TRAIL consortium. The ARIAC project (Applications and Research for Trusted Artificial Intelligence) was designed by TRAIL partners to be offered as part of the DigitalWallonia4.ai program. It must be spread over 6 years and is articulated around 5 WP (Work Package): human-AI interaction, trust mechanisms for AI, model-AI integration, optimized AI implementations, TRAIL Factory.

Project Objectives: Funded to the tune of 32 million euros by the SPW-EER, ARIAC by digitalwallonia4.ai aims to create computer tools based on trusted artificial intelligence that will offer a competitive advantage to the Walloon industrial fabric via four major themes (Medicine , Media, Mobility and Manufacturing), but will also address the energy, governance and education sectors. In addition, it aims to accelerate synergies between applied research and the business world. A minimum of 15% of the researcher’s working time will thus be allocated to the development of the four previously identified sectoral themes, as well as to the promotion of interactions with Walloon companies. In order to ensure the appropriation and exploitation of the results by companies and public authorities, and to maximize their impact, the AdN, the Approved Research Centers (CRA) and the LiEU Network will work in close collaboration within the consortium. Finally, ARIAC by digitalwallonia4.ai will establish, via TRAIL, connections with the Walloon AI network, AI4Belgium and the many Walloon, federal and European initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence in order to contribute significantly to strengthening the visibility of Wallonia in this strategic area.

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