European AI Factories: one of the European Commission’s first strategic artificial intelligence platforms in Italy
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking has announced the outcome of the call launched in September for the creation of the first European AI Factories, which selected the IT4LIA AI Factory project, the initiative that had been nominated by Italy, with the participation of Austria and Slovenia, and co-funded by the Ministry of University and Research, the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN), the Emilia-Romagna Region, the CINECA consortium, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), the ItaliaMeteo Agency, the Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence for Industry (AI4I) and Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK). Other partners in the initiative, coordinated as a hosting entity by CINECA, include national institutions and entities, such as the ICSC Foundation – National Research Center in HPC Big data and Quantum Computing.
This is a success for Italy, the result of work that has connected institutions and research organizations, demonstrating the potential of a cohesive and strategic collaboration for the development of artificial intelligence. The initiative will not only strengthen the entire national technology ecosystem, but will give a significant boost to our country’s competitiveness and economic resilience.
At the heart of the project is the creation of an advanced supercomputer, optimized for artificial intelligence, which will be installed at the Tecnopolo Manifattura in Bologna, a well-established European reference point for supercomputing, big data, AI and quantum computing. This infrastructure, among the most powerful in the world, will become a strategic asset to position Italy as a leader in AI processing in Europe. The project also includes the development of applications and services aimed at developing an ecosystem to support businesses.
