The first ever Czech-Ukrainian AI Forum took place in Prague

Prague, April 29, 2024 (PROTEXT) – The four-day visit of Ukrainian experts specializing in the topic of artificial intelligence in Prague and its surroundings is coming to an end. As part of it, a thirteen-member group of Ukrainian experts from business organizations, clusters, universities and individual companies met their Czech counterparts and also attended the Czech & Ukraine AI Forum program, which took place on Wednesday, April 24, at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The organizer of the entire mission was the CzechInno association, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic supported it from their funds.

The idea to organize a mission specifically focused on the topic of artificial intelligence arose last year after intensive Czech-Ukrainian cooperation was established in the area of ​​the first three core topics of supporting the development of digital innovations. These are the topics of smart cities and regions, smart industrial production and cyber security. Expanding the topic to the field of artificial intelligence was the next logical step, because its development is related to the implementation of new technologies in industry and in the public sphere, and also has significant cybersecurity connotations.

“We started intensive cooperation with Ukrainian partners in the field of supporting the penetration of digital innovations into practice in companies and the public sector immediately after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” the executive director of the CzechInno association, Tereza Šamanová, comments on the history of mutual cooperation. “We were surprised not only by the technological maturity of Ukrainian companies, which can boldly compete with their foreign counterparts with their innovations developed even under the conditions that currently prevail in Ukraine, but especially by the tenacity and consistent approach of our Ukrainian partners to mutual cooperation. Both of these aspects constantly confirm to us that the further deepening of Czech-Ukrainian technological and commercial cooperation – and specifically, for example, in the field of strengthening cyber security and the development of artificial intelligence in various areas of human activity – makes great sense and we are ready to support it in our activities and projects,” adds Tereza Šamanová.

A total of 13 Ukrainian experts visited Prague and Dolní Břežany this week, whose aim was to find their Czech counterparts for joint projects to support the development and implementation of artificial intelligence models in four areas: industry, environmental care, healthcare and public safety protection.

The main point of the mission’s program was the AI ​​Forum Czech Republic & Ukraine, which the CzechInno association, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, which is in charge of the development of artificial intelligence within the government, organized on Wednesday, April 24, in the building of the Ministry of Industry in Prague.

The main goal of the forum was to support B2B cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) between the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The event offered an information platform, the opportunity to establish contacts and networking for interested parties from both countries. The event was opened by the representatives of the Czech government – the senior director of the EU and foreign trade section of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, David Müller and the government representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine, Tomáš Kopečný. Both emphasized that part of the Czech government’s long-term and consistent support for Ukraine includes support for building more intensive trade relations, as well as support for capacity building of Ukrainian structures in relation to Ukraine’s perspective entry into the EU. For this, the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Prague, Vitaly Usaty, thanked them and the Czech government from the Ukrainian side in his opening remarks.

“I would like to emphasize that for those interested in deeper Czech-Ukrainian cooperation, there are two programs managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic from which joint Czech-Ukrainian projects can be immediately supported: the Aid for Trade Ukraine program, the aim of which is to help Ukraine with the repair of damage caused by the war through the involvement of Czech companies, as well as the Capacity Building for Ukraine program, which is aimed at transferring Czech know-how not only in the field of EU integration,” said David Müller, senior director of the EU and Foreign Trade Section of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. “Thus, we will look forward to the further deepening of Czech-Ukrainian cooperation and to new projects submitted to these programs, even in the wake of the AI ​​Forum Czech & Ukraine and the mission on the topic of artificial intelligence.” concluded David Müller.

The program of the event subsequently presented a range of information and, in particular, concrete tips for deepening Czech-Ukrainian cooperation in the field of strategic support for the development of artificial intelligence and especially its use in practice in industry and other areas.

Lucie Schaffelhoferová from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic presented the newly updated National Strategy of Artificial Intelligence, and on the other hand, the leader of the mission of Ukrainian experts, Alexandre Yurchak – president of the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance and chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Intelligent Automation – summarized the current situation in the strategic support and actual development of artificial intelligence in Ukraine: it does not yet have its government strategy for the development of artificial intelligence, but Ukrainian companies and research organizations are very active in the field of development and deployment of AI in practice and are ready for immediate cooperation with their Czech counterparts.

The program of the event subsequently presented fifteen specific offers of cooperation from the Czech and Ukrainian sides in the field of deploying artificial intelligence in industry, environmental protection, healthcare and strengthening public security. The participants were interested, for example, in the “Smart Bucha” project, the aim of which is – also with the help of Czech smart technologies – to strengthen the safety of the inhabitants of small towns around Kyiv and to increase their ability to immediately react to abnormal or crisis situations. He was inspired by last year’s visit of a delegation on the topic of smart cities and regions in Pilsen: following the initiative of the Information Technology Administration of the City of Pilsen, there are smart technologies including sound detectors with artificial intelligence, smart cameras, drones with machine vision or robots enabling the search and rescue of people in hard-to-reach areas, part of the region’s integrated rescue system and traffic management systems in the city of Pilsen.

The content of the event was summarized by the director of the prg.ai association Lukáš Kačena with the words: “Today we heard a lot of tips for deepening cooperation, but it’s important not to stop at words and move from them to actions: so let’s continue the cooperation that has started and deepen it on other joint projects.”

The next mission of Ukrainian experts, which is being prepared by the CzechInno association with the support of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be a thematic mission dedicated to smart industry. Its representatives will head to the International Engineering Fair 2024 in October and, as part of their program, will visit research and company operations in Brno and the surrounding area with the aim of identifying topics for further joint Czech-Ukrainian projects.

The mission of Ukrainian experts to the Czech Republic on the subject of Artificial Intelligence takes place within the framework of the PROPED 2024 program, which was supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kyiv participates in its implementation with the organizational assistance of the CzechInno association.

The AI ​​Forum Czech & Ukraine conference is included in the context of supporting Czech-Ukrainian B2B cooperation in the field of digital innovations, the coordinator of which is the association on the Czech side EnglishInnothen on the Ukrainian side Ukrainian Cluster Alliance.

Its main topics are smart cities and regions, smart industry, cyber security and artificial intelligence. For all these topics, thematic missions, conferences and bilateral meetings of experts are organized with the aim of identifying topics for commercial and strategic cooperation projects between the Czech Republic and Ukraine in direct connection with the topic of implementing digital innovations in the field of industry and public administration.

This can be supported, for example, from programs Aid for Trade – Ukraine or Capacity Building for Ukrainewhich is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

Source: CzechInno

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