CLAIRE and euRobotics recognise their shared interest to support each other's activities and to develop and promote research and innovation at the intersection of AI and Robotics. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two pan-European organisations was officially signed today at the European AI Week session “CLAIRE-euRobotics Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony”.

"AI and Robotics are both areas of key strategic areas of importance for Europe and beyond", says Prof. Holger Hoos, Chair of the Board of CLAIRE and Alexander von Humboldt-Professor for AI at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. "Strengthening ties between CLAIRE and euRobotics will position Europe for success in AI-based robotics, with major benefits for industry and society. I am thrilled to enter today into a close cooperation between our two organisations".

CLAIRE and euRobotics will work together to establish joint activities and develop a comprehensive understanding of the overlap of each other's areas of research and application, through the creation of better mutual recognition and appreciation of the interaction between AI and Robotics, by fostering collaboration within the communities, maximising knowledge transfer and minimising the duplication of efforts.

First joint activities are already planned and include: 

• establishing bi-directional information channels, for cross-collection, promotion and dissemination of information regarding relevant activities, such as conferences, workshops, summer, industry seminars

• joint events and workshops that promote and explore activities, advances and challenges at the intersection of AI and Robotics, including Theme Development Workshops and community building and networking events to foster greater connection between the people and organisations in each community

• strategic communication channels between the Partners, in order to develop joint strategy and approaches on subjects of common interest

Further collaboration will likely include joint working papers, workshops, seminars, and the exchange of expert advice. They may contribute to this by providing expertise, resources, competencies and best practices.

"It's clear that robotics and AI each have a vital role to play in tackling many of the great societal challenges", says Dr. Bernd Liepert, President of euRobotics. "By creating this new basis for collaboration between our two great tech communities, we have an opportunity to break new ground together in research and innovation and enable Europe to take advantage of the benefits that this will bring to our industries, economies and societies."

About CLAIRE

CLAIRE (Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe, claire-ai.org) is an organisation created by the European AI community that seeks to strengthen European excellence in AI research and innovation, with a strong focus on human-centred AI. CLAIRE aims to establish a world-wide brand recognition for "AI made in Europe" (at the level of CERN), and to position Europe in control of its own future.

CLAIRE was launched in June 2018 and now has the support of more than 3,900 people, most of them scientists, technologists, and researchers in Artificial Intelligence. The supporters represent the vast majority of Europe’s AI community, spanning academia and industry, research and innovation. Among the supporters are more than 140 fellows from various key scientific associations. CLAIRE has opened administrative offices in The Hague, Saarbrücken, Prague, Rome, Brussels, Oslo, Paris and Zürich. Furthermore, nine advisory groups with 48 members from 18 countries have been established, covering all areas of AI, along with the topics of ethical, legal and social implications of AI.

CLAIRE's membership network consists of over 430 research groups and research institutions, covering jointly more than 24,000 employees in 37 countries. In addition, CLAIRE is in the process of setting up an industry network, in order to foster close links between non-profit research and impactful industrial applications.

The CLAIRE vision for excellence in European AI has received official letters of support from the governments of nine European countries, from over 30 scientific associations across all of Europe, from the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI, which is the key European association for AI researchers), from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI, the key international association for AI), and from the European Space Agency (ESA).

CLAIRE is also actively liaising, on an ongoing basis, with other important organisations, including ELLIS, the HumanE AI consortium, the Big Data Value Association, euRobotics and AI4EU, and cooperates closely with ESA.

About euRobotics

euRobotics is an international non-profit association for all stakeholders in European robotics. It was established in September 2012 and continues to serve its founding purpose: to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and to ensure industrial leadership of manufacturers, providers and end-users of robotics technology-based systems and services. 

It forms the largest network of roboticists and business in Europe with about 250 institutional members, covering small and large companies, associations and institutions, universities,  laboratories and RTOs. The objectives of euRobotics are to boost European robotics research, development and innovation, to foster a positive perception of robotics, to support the widest and most effective uptake of robotics technologies and services for professional and private use, and to ensure the excellence of the robotics science base in Europe is maintained. 

euRobotics coordinates some 30 Topic Groups. These “grass roots” groups cover a wide range of robotics-related themes including: perception, mechatronics, AI and Cognition, but also standardisation, ethical and legal issues, and more. euRobotics also organises major European robotics events including the European Robotic Forum (ERF) and the European Robotics Week (ERF) as well as workshops and Topic Group events, all of which attract interest and participation from across Europe. euRobotics was the private side partner with the European Commission in the SPARC cPPP under Horizon 2020 and is a Founding Member of Adra the AI, Data and Robotics Partnership in Horizon Europe. Further information about euRobotics can be found on its official website at https://old.eu-robotics.net.

Contact:

Alexa Kodde, Project Coordinator CLAIRE,

Tel. +31 72 527 4799

E-Mail: press@claire-ai.org

Steve Doswell, Communication Coordinator, euRobotics
Tel. +44 7973 11 8864
E-mail: communication@eu-robotics.net