Can we detect snow-covered cars from more than 250 m height?

LTU's machine learning group, in collaboration with CDT and the company Smartplanes, has developed technology that makes it possible to detect snow-covered cars from a height of more than 250 meters.

According to the researchers, detecting vehicles in drone imagery is a complex problem because the images are captured from oblique angles and present various challenges such as perspective distortions, uneven illumination effects, degradations, blurring, occlusions, loss of visibility, etc. In addition, there are common issues related to vehicle detection, whether the images are captured by static cameras or flying drones. These problems are related to the presence of different types of vehicles with different speeds, shapes, and other characteristics.

Overall, vehicle detection in real-time situations is difficult and much work is still needed to achieve industry acceptance, both in terms of accuracy and reliability.

Northern Sweden takes the lead in applied AI

SMEs have learned more about artificial intelligence and how it can be used to improve business. Luleå University of Technology has in turn found new collaboration partners for business-related research. During the last three years, the university has gained ground in applied AI. Read more

AI collaboration to develop unmanned drones

Luleå University of Technology's researchers in AI and machine learning have started a collaboration with the company Origon with the goal that drones will be able to collect more data.
Read more

New AI collaboration will delimit forest stocks

Luleå University of Technology's researchers in AI and machine learning have started a collaboration with the company Dianthus with the goal of improving and further developing their AI-based method to be able to automatically delimit forest stands. Read more

Development of computer vision for orbits

Luleå University of Technology's researchers in Robotics and AI have started a collaboration with the Luleå company Vimotek with the goal of developing AI algorithms for computer vision that will improve the control of satellites in orbit.Read more

Open funding opportunities

Furthering the development of a materials acceleration platform for sustainable batteries (combining AI, big data, autonomous synthesis robotics, high throughput testing) (Batteries Partnership) (Deadline 06/09/22) [Read here]
Towards the creation of a European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (Deadline 07/09/2022) [Read here]
Promote worldwide a European way to digital innovation rooted in culture (Deadline 28/09/2022) [Read here]
Call for tenders - PCP on AI based solutions for public transport safety (Deadline 03/10/22) [Read here]
Framework Contract for the Provision of Studies and Related Services on Digital Policy Issues (Deadline 07/10/2022) [Read here]
Industrial Research & Validation for Artificial Intelligence for Aviation (Deadline 13/10/22) [Read here]
Fast Track Innovation and Uptake Artificial Intelligence for Aviation (Deadline 13/10/22) [Read here]
ATM application-oriented Research for Artificial Intelligence (AI) for aviation (Deadline 13/10/22) [Read here]
Fundamental Science and Outreach for Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Aviation (Deadline 13/10/22) [Read here]
NEW! Call for tenders: Next Generation Sequencing for Oncology (Deadline to send interest to bid: 17/10/2022) [Read here]
EIC Pathfinder Challenge: DNA-based digital data storage (Deadline 19/10/2022) [Read here]
AI, Data and Robotics for Industry optimisation (including production and services) (AI, Data and Robotics Partnership) (IA) (Deadline 16/11/22) [Read here]
Pushing the limit of physical intelligence and performance (RIA) (Deadline 16/11/22) [Read here]
Increased robotics capabilities demonstrated in key sectors (AI, Data and Robotics Partnership) (IA) (Deadline 16/11/22) [Read here]
AI for human empowerment (AI, Data and Robotics Partnership) (RIA) (Deadline 16/11/22) [Read here]
European Network of AI Excellence Centres: Expanding the European AI lighthouse (RIA) (Deadline 16/11/22) [Read here]

Policy initiatives, announcements and briefings (all NEW):

Call for experts to draft a temporary assessment framework for data centre activities [Read here]
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital info session: Backbone Connectivity for Digital Global Gateways [Read here]
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Matchmaking: 5G for Smart Communities [Read here]

Open Public consultations:

Digital skills – improving their provision (Deadline 16/09/2022) [Participate here]
Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) – recording data on farm economics (Deadline 30/08/2022) [Read here]

Newspaper articles/publications/reports (all NEW):

Health protection is non-negotiable in the AI Act negotiations [Read here]
EU Court Expands Definition of Sensitive Data, Prompting Legal Concerns for Companies [Read here]
Sustaining Open Data as a Digital Common -- Design principles for Common Pool Resources applied to Open Data Ecosystems [Read here]
EU mulls new unit with antitrust veterans to enforce tech rules [Read here]
Digital Global Gateways - Shaping the next Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital call [Read here]

You can find all the past News from Brussels archived here on SAP Jam.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us through info@core.bdva.eu or secretariat@core.bdva.eu

Cooperation will increase safety in mines

AI is on its way to becoming a tool to improve the overall security of mining environments. Luleå University of Technology's researchers in robotics and AI have started a new collaboration with the Luleå company ThingWave with the goal of expanding their digitization platform with new AI functions. Read more

AI between heaven and earth

Innovationslandet Sverige is the podcast where Emma Frans meets some of Sweden's foremost researchers to learn more about their current innovation projects.
In this episode, she meets the prominent AI researcher Marcus Liwicki, who has devoted more than 20 years to research. As vice rector for applied AI, he is involved in several projects at universities. Hear how AI can be used in welfare, our mines and in space in the latest episode of Innovationslandet Sverige.
Listen here

Research collaboration will reduce the risk of misunderstandings during emergency calls

The Luleå company Skyresponse and Luleå University of Technology are collaborating to develop automatic transcription of emergency calls with the help of AI.

Erik Mattsson, who works in Applied research and development at Skyresponse, says:
– This feasibility study has the potential to facilitate the daily work of alarm operators. It's about fine-tuning trained models for speech to text. Read the full article

Data-driven decision-making will avoid operational disruptions

By developing data-driven decision-making processes, researchers at Luleå University of Technology and the company Predge hope to be able to predict errors and prevent unwanted stops in the mining and railway industry.

Joakim Lindström, developer at Predge, says:
– The project will investigate how our decision support systems are used in practice to make better decisions in workflows. Hopefully, it can help us understand how our analytical decision support products are used by our customers in their decision-making processes. Read the full article

Vice-Rector for Applied AI

Luleå University of Technology appoints a Vice-Rector in Applied AI. – We want our region to become a sustainable flagship in applied AI on both national and EU level, says Marcus Liwicki, Professor of Machine Learning and newly appointed Vice-Rector of Applied AI.
Read more

Support in innovation development
Developing new products can often take a long time and involve great uncertainty. LTU Business has expertise in innovation management and business development and can offer business consulting to companies that want to develop. One of those who works at LTU Business is Sandra Uddeskär. According to Sandra, there is a lot of money to both earn and save for companies by taking the right step forward. For example, it could be about looking at existing products or services and finding new industries to launch.
Read the whole article here: https://www.ltu.se/centres/cdt/Stod-i-innovationsutveckling-1.214332

Forest inspection with autonomous drones

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology will investigate how AI can improve the understanding and interpretation of information during forest inspections with the help of drones.

Many areas of use in forestry
Inspecting forests using drones is already being done, but analyzing the collected imagery using artificial intelligence is not as developed. Self-flying drones will become increasingly common in the future, especially in inspection assignments and when it can otherwise be difficult to get around, for example in dangerous environments. The fact that the drones are fully automated leads to higher efficiency, reduced costs and minimized risks of personal injury.

Using autonomous drones in the forest industry in particular has many advantages. It can be anything from getting help in categorizing trees to detecting forest fires. The drones can detect tree diseases, such as infestations by bark beetles, which makes it possible to quickly remedy the further spread of pests in healthy forests. Another area of use is to be able to warn of winds and storm-felled trees that, for example, block roads.

World-class research
The work, which takes place within the framework of an EU project, is a collaboration between the Robotics Group at Luleå University of Technology and the Skellefteå-based company Conifer Vision, a company that works with AI strategies for image analysis in forestry, renewable energy and the mining industry.

The robotics group, which will primarily carry out the work, is world-class in terms of robotics and drone technology. They work to demonstrate the use of robots under real conditions and fully connected to real needs. The research group has extensive experience of field robotics, ie robots operating in realistic environments outside laboratories and in their work they will use the latest technology in computer vision and location of drones.

Optimize forest management
The aim of the work is, among other things, to evaluate aerial photos and look at how to use AI in forest inspection.Roger Öhlund, CEO of Conifer Vision, says:
– Today, ever higher demands are placed on forestry from a climate perspective. The system we are now developing will be autonomous and self-learning and contribute to objective and quantitative assessments to identify and optimize necessary forest measures for forest asset management.

Working to ensure that AI are equal

Artificial intelligence can help create discrimination. That is why the Machine Learning Group at Luleå University of Technology works actively to ensure that future AI solutions combat inequalities and improve gender equality.

In order for artificial intelligence, AI, to be able to act independently, it is trained in making different choices with the help of previous data. In order for AI not to maintain or even reinforce gender stereotypes, the system must be programmed correctly. On the one hand, there must be diversity and equality among those who code, and on the other hand, it is important to have a great awareness of the issues. All of this is something that the machine learning group is constantly working on.

Equal AI systems
Foteini Simistira Liwicki, senior lecturer in machine learning, says:
- In our group, we tried from the beginning to have as many women as men and to treat everyone in an equal way.

György Kovács, postdoctoral fellow in the same department, agrees:
- We work hard to ensure that men and women have the same opportunities and are treated equally. The benefits of gender equality are many, it provides a better work environment, more job satisfaction and better results.

Develops AI technology for humans
Gender equality work is also reflected in the work towards the companies and in the projects they work in, including the AI project Applied AI DIH North, which includes a number of company cases. AI is dependent on data, lots of data. Algorithms model real data, and if gender inequality exists in society, it also exists in the data. Thus, there is a great risk that AI will also be unequal. As a result, developers may unknowingly add gender prejudices to AI systems.

Richa Upadhyay, PhD student in the group says:
- This is really not the kind of development AI predicts. Therefore, it is just as important to develop an understanding of gender equality in our societies as it is to develop an understanding of our AI systems.
Foteini Simistira Liwicki, continues:
-Because we develop AI technology for humans, it is important that the developed technology has the different opinions of all people and that it is not biased with regard to gender. Gender equality requires that both women and men are equally involved.
Hopeful future
The field of computer science has been male-dominated for decades. It's changing, but it's slow. However, Foteini is hopeful.
-I am the educational leader for the new 5-year engineering program Applied AI and for the first time, a large number of women have applied for the program. It makes me so happy for our future in AI!

AI could predict trust
Researchers at Luleå University of Technology will, together with the company Substorm, investigate whether it is possible with the help of AI to increase trust in digital communication channels.

Predict, analyze and improve trust
In today's society, communication and conversations have largely been moved to digital channels. These are often short messages such as emails, chats or tweets.

Before we trust a person or an organization, we make both conscious and unconscious assessments based on personal criteria and experiences. But much of this assessment is done through non-verbal communication during physical meetings. What then does it look like when trust is to a greater extent to be built via shorter text messages via digital meetings instead of through human meetings?

By collaborating with Luleå University of Technology in an AI project, the company Substorm hopes to discover ways in which AI can be used to predict, analyze and improve trust in digital communication channels based on text. The company has been ranked as one of Sweden's most innovative AI companies. They were founded in Luleå in 2019 and their business spans areas such as intelligent automation, robotics and machine learning.

Model must detect changes and intervene
Niklas Karvonen, CTO at Substorm, participates in the project. He says:
- Trust is an important factor in our everyday lives. Before a person decides that they can trust someone or an organization, an assessment is made based on a number of criteria. Communication is a central part of building trust, and a large part of human communication is non-verbal.

The goal of the work is now to develop a model that will be able to predict what trust a person or an organization will receive and see if it is possible to predict a possible change in trust over time. This would also make it possible to intervene when confidence in a communications partner declines.

AI is crucial to achieving a sustainable and equal world
Norrbotten is growing strongly and the need for competence in machine learning is increasing in the region. Both Luleå University of Technology and Substorm have built strong teams in the area, and also managed to balance the distribution of men and women in a good way.

Substorm, founded by a woman, is convinced that AI will be crucial to reaching a sustainable world. Hiring 50/50 women and men is not something they compromise on or strive for, it is simply a must. This means that the company works hard to find expertise in forums, organizations and networks where they know that there is a high degree of women and non-binary people, such as Women in AI Sweden and Women in RPA. They also work with role modeling, which means that women have key management and technical positions to attract more people.

Technology knowledge must improve society
Niklas Karvonen believes that it is important for them to work ethically and sustainably. He says:
- We are happy to get involved in projects where we see that our technical knowledge in e.g. deep learning can be used for a better society, e.g. the research project NoBias for non-exclusive communication, or AboutMom which is building an app for better postpartum care.

The work in the AI project Applied AI DIH North is in line with these goals. They also give them opportunities to further strengthen ties with the university, where they already collaborate through degree projects, and as part of project courses.

AI is becoming an important tool in the competition for Swedish Olympic and World Cup medals. Luleå University of Technology's researchers in robotics and machine learning have started a collaboration with the Boden company TNTX with the goal of helping the alpine national team to ski faster and safer.

– Our skiers are in an extremely competitive environment where hundredths of a second differ between Olympic gold and an honorable fourth place. Skiers are challenged not only by their competitors but also by the surrounding environment. By using modern technology and knowledge, we can now create opportunities for our athletes to focus entirely on optimizing their decisions during the ride, like a Formula 1 driver. Our goal is to compete for medals in all disciplines in the Olympics in Cortina 2026 and this collaboration is a big part of that ambition, says alpine manager Tommy Eliasson Winter.

New visualization tool
The project aims to improve the performance of skiers. AI and a completely new visualization tool will help national team athletes understand more about the optimal racing line. In a virtual environment, skiers and leadership can quickly get feedback and compare in real time how a choice of racing line affects the time. Factors such as individual skiing technique and snow and weather conditions are also taken into account.
– We develop an AI and race line that is faster than the best skiers in the world. It makes it possible to study and compare your own race choices with an optimized line to quickly see how to improve. It is great that we, as a private company, make this a reality together with the alpine national team and Luleå University of Technology, says Thomas Vikström who has had a long career at Tesla in the USA.
Together with the entrepreneur Thomas Lindgren - who has founded several companies in the gaming industry – Vikström has founded the company TNTX in Boden, which develops platforms for augmented and virtual reality with the goal of having a safer working environment in the mining, steel and forest industry. The technology can also be applied in sports.
– It is partly the same technology that is also used in self-driving cars today. We want to give the Swedish national team another tool to help them become the best in the world, says Thomas Vikström.

Years of experience
New in the collaboration are Luleå University of Technology's research groups in robotics and AI and machine learning.
– The robotics and AI team is bringing in know how in this project on AI in perception, localisation and reasoning that has been developed for embedding autonomy in drones in multiple research and development projects for the last 15 years, says Professor George Nikolakopoulos, who leads Luleå University of Technology's research group in robotics and AI.
Professor Marcus Liwicki leads the research group in achine learning.
– The team contributes with expertise on deep learning and reinforcement learning to optimize the racing part in the virtual environment. Technologies that previously won in virtual racing environment and ATARI games will be tuned to work on the much more complex environment of downhill skiing, says Liwicki.

Read the entire article here:
https://www.ltu.se/centres/cdt/Nytt-samarbete-ska-hjalpa-landslaget-att-aka-snabbare-och-sakrare-1.209290?l=en

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology will, together with the company Mindforce Game Lab, look at the extent to which machine learning can help identify a person's mood and inspire them to take better care of themselves. By developing interactive AI solutions, they hope to help people suffering from mental illness take their medication and keep track of their progress.

Help to follow the treatment plan
The number of people suffering from mental illness has increased in recent years, but the available medical infrastructure does not meet demand. This was one of the reasons why the Skellefteå-based company Mindforce Game Lab began to develop an interactive mobile game that helps people change their behavior and achieve better health. The game, which is registered as a medical device, is aimed primarily at young people suffering from depression and bipolar disorder. The goal is for the user, with the support of a game and a game character, to increase the compliance of their treatment and establish healthy habits around food, sleep and exercise.

Anders Tånger, CEO of Mindforce Game Lab says:
-In case of mental illness, it is important to follow the treatment plan and take prescribed medication. However, for various reasons, many patients do not take their prescribed medication. If you look at chronic diseases, both simpler and more serious diagnoses, the average is to complete your medication at about 50 percent. According to the WHO, the problem of people not taking their medication as they should, is more important to deal with than new breakthroughs for various medications.

Analyze behavior patterns
The game, called "Fig, a 'playtient' journey", uses a so-called "Tamagotchi effect" to create an emotional connection to the main character named "Fig" in the game. The assumption is based on the fact that caring for the character should inspire the user to take better care of himself and that the main character in the game takes medication regularly and encourages the user to do the same. Using Artificial Intelligence, researchers will analyze the user's behavioral patterns and, using machine learning techniques, identify triggers, examine whether the person is improving or deteriorating, and allow the app to respond accordingly.

The work is part of an AI project
The work takes place within the framework of the project Applied AI DIH North at Luleå University of Technology. The project aims to create a strong innovation system for growth in the AI industry. It runs for three years and is financed by the EU's regional development fund (Tillväxtverket), Luleå University of Technology, Luleå municipality, Skellefteå municipality and the Norrbotten Region.

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology will investigate whether it is possible to automate the creation of photo books from a large collection of unsorted images.

Image analysis via deep learning
One obstacle that people face when creating photo books is the choice of photos. Usually a person has thousands of pictures on their phone to choose from. To remedy this, the machine learning group at Luleå University of Technology will evaluate and use the latest knowledge in computer vision and, with the help of new deep learning techniques, analyze photos to come up with suggestions for clear photo books. The goal is to, with the help of Deep Learning and computer vision algorithms, select and group images for photo books with different themes, and to find patterns for how people are displayed.

The work is done in collaboration with the Skellefteå-based company Once Upon Publishing, whose business idea is to let its customers create photo books directly in their phones. The vision is that new users, within a few seconds after starting their app, will be presented with finished books, such as "Holiday in Rome" or "Family Yearbook". The suggestions follow different themes that are considered most relevant to the user. The customer should also be able to view a wider selection of photos from the selected events and adjust the selection of photos accordingly. For returning customers, the proposals should be based on previously created photo books.

Market-leading app for photo books
Once Upon provides an app for photo books that is designed and ordered easily from your mobile. Launched on the App Store and Google Play 2017, the app lets anyone create a photo book in just 20 minutes. The company's markets today are Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Once Upon had until recently about 25 employees, a figure the company expects to double in the coming year.

Linus Nilsson, Chief Experience Officer at Once Upon, says:
- Like so many others, we see great potential in AI technologies, but we also want to safeguard integrity and creative joy. A photo book is very personal and our hypothesis is that technology should help, but not take over. And it is important to clarify that we do not use our customers' images in the research project. At a later stage we will probably ask for volunteers, but so far we are working on our own pictures.

Growth in the AI industry
The work takes place within the framework of the project Applied AI DIH North at Luleå University of Technology. The project aims to create a strong innovation system for growth in the AI industry.

Michael Nilsson, project manager at the Center for Distance Spanning Technology, CDT, says:
- The knowledge that is now being built regarding image analysis of photo books can be applied to challenges in other industries. For example, real-time image analysis can be very useful for avoiding unnecessary stops in a production chain or for analyzing images in healthcare.

Computer vision will identify material types on conveyor belts

The company MBV Systems and Luleå University of Technology enter into cooperation to identify material types.

Specifically, the work is about identifying properties of materials in the process industry. Examples of use are found in the mining, pulp and paper and steel industries and the focus is on improving the sensing system. With the solution, it is hoped to be able to ensure that the correct material is on, for example, a conveyor belt and to be able to identify if deviations such as boulders or rock bolts enter the belt.

Lars Lindqvist, CEO of MBV Systems, says:
- With the help of the Applied AI DIH North project, we hope to be able to improve our products both in the long and short term. We also see it as an opportunity to deepen our own competence in the area. At the same time, we hope to be able to contribute with a good connection to the industry's needs, with its challenges in data collection.

Michael Nilsson, project manager, says:
- Luleå University of Technology will carry out applied research in computer vision to find a new method for solving material type classification. The competence of the university's machine learning group will in a good way complement MBV System's domain knowledge to work with this issue and thereby accelerate the innovation process. Our hope is to develop an adaptable solution that can be practiced for educational purposes.

MBV Systems is a supplier of advanced vision-based measurement technology. The main market is the process industry where the requirements for durability and measurement consistency are very high. One of MBV Systems' products is a 3D particle size measurement system that provides a continuous measurement of material properties such as particle size distribution and volume flow.

The work takes place within the framework of the project Applied AI DIH North.

AI in infrastructure inspection and applications

28 apr. 2021, 08:00 - 09:00, Zoom

All dangerous works and services in harsh environments will be fully automated in the future. This will lead to higher efficiency, reduce costs and minimized risks for personnel.

Autonomous drones are creating multiple opportunities for almost all the key industrial sectors in multiple missions focusing from e.g. inspection of mines, wind turbines, into all the forms of the ageing infrastructure. Autonomous robots in multiple forms will be utilized massively for everything from security and surveillance to missions in space.

In this webinar, the unlimited opportunities of utilizing autonomous robots for multiple inspection applications will be presented. The enabling technologies on autonomy will also be presented and fused with the current state of the art in computer vision, localisation, orchestration of multiple robots and specific applications with a related high impact.

AGENDA

8.00 - 8.05 Introduction
Michael Nilsson, Applied AI DIH North project manager, Luleå University of Technology

8.05 – 8.15 A real life example
Peter Burman, Program Manager Mine Automation, Boliden

8.15 – 8.45 Autonomous robots for inspection: applications, opportunities & state of the art
George Nikolakopoulos, Professor and Head of Subject, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Luleå University of Technology

8.45 – 8.55 Q&A session
For those of you who want to discuss more in detail stay, and/or let us know so we can contact you afterwards.

Register for the event:
https://simpleeventsignup.com/event/178249-ai-in-infrastructure-inspection-and-applications
The Zoom link will be sent to all registered the day before.

About George Nikolakopoulos
George is acting Chair on Robotics and AI, a Professor on Robotics and Automation at the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering at Luleå University of Technology. His work is focusing in the area of Robotics, Control Applications and Cyberphysical Systems. His published scientific work includes more than 150 published International Journals and Conferences in the field. He has been Associate Editor and Reviewer of Several International Journals and Conferences, as well as a member of the ARTEMIS scientific Council in the European Commission.

The Award-winning Robotics team
The research group in Robotics and AI at Luleå University of Technology are working to demonstrate the utilization of robots in real life conditions and fully connected with real needs. It is world class when it comes to Robotics and specifically drone technology. As part of NASA’s team in the Subterranean Challenge, they successfully came in second place in the world in the first circuit of the prestigious competition. The challenge was to map, identify, and report artefacts in a mine by utilizing autonomous systems and the teams brought both UAV’s and ground robots to the spot.

For more information and questions, contact: marie.nolin@ltu.se, 072-526 20 70

Forum Europe's 3rd Annual European Artificial Intelligence Conference

Welcome to register and read more about the event at www.ai-euconference.com
This event is free to attend.

Welcome to the webinar: Machine Learning with few data sets

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 08:00 – 09.00, Zoom

We all are aware of how machine learning has revolutionized our world and has made a variety of complex tasks much easier to perform. In this event, we will talk about how the size of the data set impacts Machine Learning algorithms, how deep learning model performance depends on data size and how to work with smaller data sets to get similar performances.

AGENDA
8.00 - 8.05 Introduction
Michael Nilsson, Applied AI DIH North project manager, Luleå University of Technology

8.05 – 8.15 A real life Machine Learning challenge
Niklas Karvonen, CTO, Substorm

8.15 – 8.45 Machine Learning with few data sets, State-of-the-art & solutions
Marcus Liwicki, Professor of Machine Learning at Luleå University of Technology, and his team

8.45 – 8.55 Q&A session
For those of you who want to discuss more in detail stay, and/or let us know so we can contact you afterwards.

Register to the event: https://simpleeventsignup.com/event/177729
The Zoom link will be sent to all registered the day before.

About Niklas Karvonen
Niklas is CTO at Substorm and a machine learning expert who has a long experience of software development ranging from embedded systems to web. He has a PhD in Pervasive and Mobile computing, specialization: machine learning on resource-constrained systems.

About Marcus Liwicki
Marcus Liwicki is chaired professor at Luleå University of Technology and a senior assistant in the University of Fribourg. His research interests include machine learning, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence et cetera. Marcus is a co-author of the book "Recognition of Whiteboard Notes – Online, Offline, and Combination”.

For more information and questions, contact: marie.nolin@ltu.se, 072-526 20 70

AI agenda will bring Sweden forward

The AI agenda for Sweden will strengthen the country's competitiveness and competence. – The university has a strong profile in industrial and applied AI research and education and plays an important role in Sweden's competence supply, says Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn, Rector of Luleå University of Technology.

The work with the AI Agenda for Sweden is led by RISE in collaboration with actors from academia, business, the public sector and civil society. The purpose of the agenda is to accelerate the use of AI through strategic initiatives, coordination and consensus in the areas of research, education, business, the public sector, the general public, and infrastructure. The AI Agenda's proposal aims to accelerate the positive effects of AI use in Swedish society.
– It is important that we jointly gather strength in Sweden to take advantage of the positive effects of AI in society, both short and long term, and in a responsible, inclusive and sustainable way. I hope the AI Agenda can contribute to increased understanding and awareness of AI, says Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn who has been invovled with working on the agenda.

– Since the AI area is developing very quickly, government investments in research need to increase in order for Sweden to be able to strengthen its global position. We must also remember that it is the use of new technology that creates societal changes.

Priority area
Marcus Liwicki, professor of Machine Learning at Luleå University of Technology, has also participated in the agenda work. He believes that the joined forces proof that the issue is a priority.
– To get a AI Agenda for the whole country, created and shaped by dozens of actors, shows how important and unique this work is. AI must benefit everyone and it requires coordinated and politically supported efforts, says Marcus Liwicki. Within the framework of the AI Agenda, Luleå University of Technology will contribute with both research and education.
– We are investing in developing interdisciplinary research groups that, in collaboration with external actors, can realize the technical and social science opportunities that AI offers. We also develop new AI educations that address today's and tomorrow's skills needs, and ensure that AI education is available to everyone regardless of where in Sweden you live, says Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn.

Inclusive AI
Marcus Liwicki also points out the importance of requiring a general and broad understanding of AI and that the subject should therefore be introduced already in primary school. General understanding, combined with increased availability of easy-to-use tools, can in the long run enable us to tailor our own AI.
– It can, for example, be a chatbot that handles calendar bookings or customer contacts, an AI that recognizes images you are interested in or a personal AI coach who in collaboration with real teachers helps you when learning.

Read more about the Swedish AI-agenda here: https://www.ri.se/sv/ai-agendan

Mobilaris positions its AI work

Mobilaris will initiate a collaboration with Luleå University of Technology's project Applied AI DIH North. The purpose is to identify, apply and demonstrate different AI methods regarding positioning information.

The goal is to develop the ability and accuracy of the company's existing solutions and look at how new services and products can be created. The collaboration will last for two years and is led by George Nikolakopoulos, professor of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Luleå University of Technology.

Daniel Enström, CTO at Mobilaris says:
- At regular intervals, there are technologies that not only simplify and improve existing solutions but that also open up completely new fields of applications that could not have been built before. AI is one such example and we at Mobilaris have it as a strong part of our future technology portfolio. The collaboration with LTU is really excellent for us in this context. If we succeed, we will have several new applications we can productize and add to our portfolio with direct benefit for our customers. It is about both autonomous system monitoring and a new generation of positioning techniques. We really like the approach from LTU's side, quick decisions, straight path to project start and focus on applications.

Find discrepancies in distributed systems
Finding discrepancies in distributed localization systems will be part of the project. Deviations in this case would be, for example, unnatural movements for a particular entity or person that do not conform to natural behavior. Obtaining positioning information on a global scale, based on sensors on a local scale or in existing infrastructure for positioning and communication has a growing demand. Many location algorithms designed for this purpose base their function on different types of built-in sensors and have been created in many different systems to provide location, such as WiFi, GPS, etc. However, these systems and sensors are vulnerable to variations in operating conditions and surrounding environments. There are many factors that can limit performance, e.g. inaccessible GPS environments or outdoor operations with poor GPS reception.

Michael Nilsson, project manager, says:
- It is great to start another sub-project with a business focus. We aim to become a strong region in applied AI and here we are now breaking new ground. Mobilari's focus and participation contributes to one of our goals, namely to become a European Digital Innovation Hub with a profile in the process and manufacturing industry.

The company Agio collaborates with the project

The company Agio is first out as the project AI DIH North's partner company with the aim of developing a framework that supports and guides organizations in their data-driven decision-making processes.

Despite the growing amount of data, tools and insights, decision makers still do not fully utilize the power of current technologies for Business Intelligence (BI), Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). To do this requires, among other things, defined guidelines and processes in the area.

From data to more efficient decision making
Agio is a consulting company founded in 2003 in the business area data-driven organizations and digitization. They help organizations such as public authorities to implement digital solutions to use their data for more efficient decision-making. A key problem for them and their customers is to become data-driven in their decision-making processes and to establish a data-driven culture. Instead of focusing on actual decision-making, organizations tend to focus on technology and be technically driven rather than value- and solution-oriented.

Develop frameworks for data-driven decision-making processes
The purpose of the research collaboration with Luleå University of Technology's AI project Applied AI DIH North is to develop a framework that supports and guides organizations in their data-driven decision-making processes. Such a framework helps consultants to identify appropriate analytical solutions to given analytics and computer science problems in an efficient manner. This will be done by building a prototype that helps users identify this type of solution.

Expected result
Manne Berg at Agio hopes that the results of the research project will strengthen their market position and value proposition. Manne says: "We believe that the collaboration with Luleå University of Technology will develop our partnership with national and global IT companies and the relationship with our suppliers. In addition, the competence among the consulting group will be improved and lead to higher quality of our deliveries. It feels great! "

The AI solutions of the future in the focus of new education

Luleå University of Technology is starting a Master Programme in Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This program is nationally and internationally unique for two major reasons: (1) it´s the first master programme on Applied AI and (2) introduces for the first time a specialization that combines AI with Neuroscience. The education starts in the autumn 2021.

– The Master Programme in Applied Artificial Intelligence, aims at those who really want to understand AI. In the field of machine learning and AI, students get to learn the basics of how we with machines can simulate the intelligence of humans. Our students get to learn how effectively maths, computers and interactive systems, can help us in everyday life, Marcus Liwicki says, Chaired Professor of Machine Learning at Luleå University of Technology and teacher of the Master Programme.

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Webinar:

How can gender equality benefit your research, your project, your organisation, your business?

When: 26 Nov. 2020, 12:00 - 12:45
Where: Online, Zoom
Language: English

Welcome to an open webinar about Richer Business – a new digital tool for gender equal organizations and operations.

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Sweden Innovation Days, 17-19 November 2020

Welcome to a three-day worldwide online event around artificial intelligence!
Learn more about the Swedish strategy, the national AI ecosystem and its challenges. Listen to thought leaders from the industry, public sector and academia talk about key AI focus areas.

Read more: https://swedeninnovationdays.confetti.events/

Making sense of business models – a webinar for practitioners

Are you interested in learning more about business models? Curious to know how digitalization is leveraged for business impact? Or perhaps you want to understand the challenges and opportunities of business model innovation? If you answered yes to any of the above, grab your spot at our upcoming lunch-time webinar!

In our 45 minute webinar taking place on 5 November 2020 @ 12:00 (CET), we guide you through the basics of business models in B2B contexts and highlight the opportunities presented by digitalization, aiming to provoke discussion and provide new insights. This initiative is driven by a desire to demystify business models and promote a common understanding to support industrial practitioners in their day-to-day work.

Register here: https://ltu-se.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5ApfuyhqjwsH9RHraQl6MQXr6m7jsNV2scd

Kurs: Building AI II

Building AI is for anyone who wants to improve their AI-related vocabulary and skills, including non-programmers and people who can program in Python.

By taking the course, you'll learn more about what makes different AI methods possible and where and how these methods can be applied in real life. As a result of this course, you will be able to craft your own AI idea and present it in an understandable format.

Läs mer här: https://buildingai.elementsofai.com

A national candidate for EDIH

Process IT Innovations is together with the sister organization Automation Region and the strategic innovation program Processindustriell IT och Automation (PiiA) the initiator of the work to become a national candidate for EDIH – European digital innovation hubs.

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“We have won the biggest worldwide competition in Robotics and AI”

The Robotics and AI research group continues its successful journey in NASA/JPL’s team CoSTAR in the Subterranean Challenge, the biggest robotics competition in the world. The team won the second circuit of the competition and is now preparing for the third and last overall combined challenges.

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Swedish Workshop on Data Science

When: 29 - 30 Oct. 2020, 09:00
Where: Luleå

The 8th Swedish Workshop on Data Science (SweDS20) will be hosted by the Luleå University of Technology (LTU), in 2020 on October 29 and 30, in Luleå, Sweden.

SweDS is a national event with a focus of maintaining and developing Swedish data science research and its applications by fostering the exchange of ideas and promoting collaboration within and across disciplines. This yearly workshop brings together researchers and practitioners of data science working in a variety of academic, commercial, industrial, or other sectors. Past workshops has included presentations from a variety of domains, e.g., computer science, linguistics, economics, archaeology, environmental science, education, journalism, medicine, health-care, biology, sociology, psychology, history, physics, chemistry, geography, forestry, design, and music. SweDS20 is organized by the Luleå University of Technology (LTU).

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A virtual tour in the 5G environment

On October 1, a webinar, a digital tour in the 5G test environment, was conducted at Luleå University of Technology. During the event, the participants were shown around the environment and received information about exciting 5G applications. A number of pre-recorded films were shown with interviews with researchers, companies and students.
Project manager Arne Gylling talked, among other things, about how it is done when you as a company come and test in the environment. A 360-degree camera showed around the environment both outside and inside.

One of the projects that participated in arranging the webinar was the AI DIH North project. Artificial intelligence and 5G are technologies that reinforce each other. 5G transports data and information, enables huge amounts of data to be sent at extremely high speeds to unimaginably many devices, while artificial intelligence analyzes and offers opportunities for more efficient solutions. An example of this is the robotics group at the university that flies autonomous drones connected to 5G. This means that as soon as the drone has left the ground, there is no pilot in control. The drone is programmed to use AI to analyze its surroundings and make its own decisions, for example to be able to independently avoid obstacles. Autonomous drones can be used in many areas, for example to carry out risky inspections such as in mines. The robotics group is world-class in terms of robotics and drone technology, has won prestigious awards and collaborates with NASA.

- With the help of robotics, intelligent automation and simulation, very difficult and dangerous tasks can be performed. This is a growing subject area, both nationally and internationally. Robotics and artificial intelligence, for example, have been identified by the European Commission as one of the most important subject areas in the Horizon Europe 2021–2017 research initiative, said George Nikolakopoulos, professor of robotics and automation.

One of the companies that is involved and will conduct tests in the 5G environment is Compodium. It is a Luleå based company that delivers services in digital video conferencing and was the first in the world to provide secure digital care rooms. Bengt Grahn, founder of the company, said that he thinks it is super exciting to be involved and put his services on the latest radio technology.

Finally, the student Jesper Gladh was interviewed, who is now doing his ex-job in 5G and Virtual Reality at Ericsson.

The 5G environment is open and welcomes organizations to test products and services and is run together with Ericsson, Telia and Tieto Evry. The webinar was part of the EU's digital information campaign "My Europe", which is about disseminating information about EU-funded projects.

The event was organized by the projects:
Wireless Innovation Arena
Applied AI DIH North
5G for health and care in Upper Norrland
Arctic 5G Test Network
DIT4BEARs

Welcome to a webinar about Chatbots

Wednesday, May 20, 2020, 08:00 – 08:50, Zoom

Welcome to the first AIM Point, a series of focused webinars about different hot AI topics of today. The AIM Point is an activity within the Applied AI DIH North project. First topic is about Chatbots!

Program
8.00 - 8.05 Michael Nilsson, Applied AI DIH North project manager, will introduce the seminar.
8.05 - 8.10 Examples of challenges regarding AI at a municipality by Ola Lidström, Process leader digitization, Piteå Municipality
8.10 - 8.40 Marcus Liwicki, Professor of Machine Learning at Luleå University of Technology, will talk about what a chatbot is, state of the art, what do we miss today, research challenges and future work.
8.40 - 8.50 A Q&A session will follow.

For those of you who want to discuss more in detail stay, and/or let us know so we can contact you afterwards.

About Marcus Liwicki
Marcus Liwicki was born in 1982 in Berlin. In 2007, he defended his dissertation at the University of Bern in Switzerland, with a dissertation on automated handwriting recognition on whiteboard. He has been awarded both the CEBIT Innovation Award 2015 and the Young Investigator Award 2015. Marcus Liwicki presented his doctoral dissertation six years after he finished high school. At the age of 29, he then became the youngest professor of computer science in Germany. Today his research is largely about pattern recognition, on both a large and a small scale. It may be about loading satellite images to find geographical locations on other planets or teaching computers to read writing and analyze the text. Currently he is chaired professor at Luleå University of Technology and a senior assistant in the University of Fribourg. Marcus Liwicki is a co-author of the book "Recognition of Whiteboard Notes – Online, Offline, and Combination", published by World Scientific in October 2008 and he has more than 200 publications.

Read more about Chatbots here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatbot

Register to the event here:
https://simpleeventsignup.com/event/167796-webinar-about-chatbots

Link to the Zoom webinar here:
https://ltu-se.zoom.us/j/7517361087

Luleå University of Technology continues to move forward within the realm of AI. The Vice-Chancellor of Luleå University of Technology, Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn, far left, flanked by Foteini Liwicki, Senior Lecturer of Machine Learning, Marcus Liwicki, Professor of Machine Learning, Michael Nilsson, Project Manager for Applied AI DIH North, Anna Ståhlbröst, Professor of Information Systems, Sabine Mayer, Collaboration, External funding and Innovation, and George Nikolakopoulos, professor of Robotics and AI.

30 million for applied AI research

Strengthened innovations, greater competitiveness and more sustainable development in applied research in artificial intelligence. That is the purpose of a new project, Applied AI DIH North, which is led by Luleå University of Technology.

Everything indicates that artificial intelligence's importance in society will increase in the future. For example, AI will change our way of working, new jobs will be created and less attractive jobs will be gone. In the long run, the entire society will be permeated with products and services linked to AI, a fact not least relevant to the northern region where Luleå University of Technology is located, a region that is partly defined by sparsely populated areas and an aging population.

Important functions in society and business' competitiveness are dependent on how innovation can create benefits for Sweden and the region. The project Applied AI DIH North will contribute to competitive companies and make the region more attractive for start-ups. The result will be long-term sustainable growth that attracts people, investments and companies to the region.
– Norrbotten must take a leading position in the AI area to support continued positive development, says Michael Nilsson, project manager at the Centre for distance-spanning technology at Luleå University of Technology.
– For competitive reasons, our region's small and medium-sized companies need support in the AI area. It is important to maintain a high level of expertise with leading industries that are important and relevant to the outside world.

Luleå as AI-hub
For Luleå University of Technology, the project is a logical complement to the AI research that is already underway at the university at the AI Excellence Centre. In particular, the university has expertise in applied AI. Through collaboration with companies, research is translated into innovations for the benefit of industry, education and health.

– A project of this kind suits us very well. We have good technical infrastructure, several different lab environments and existing test beds. In addition, our research is one of Sweden's most applied, we have a very strong collaboration with industry and a high degree of external research funding. All in all, we are extremely suitable to be a hub in AI-related research, says Michael Nilsson.
– However, our overall goal is to reach beyond regional and national levels. If we are to be really attractive, only world-class counts.