Upper Austria sets up AI centre for industry

Upper Austria is establishing a centre for artificial intelligence to help bring international innovations more quickly to local industry, ORF reported. The state will invest 2.65 million euros over the next three years.

The Center of Excellence for Physical and Industrial AI at the Johannes Kepler University campus will connect companies with technologies, start-ups and international partners. Its focus will be AI applications in manufacturing, plant engineering, logistics, engineering and construction.

Industrial companies Keba, Primetals Technologies, Swietelsky, TGW Logistics and voestalpine will cooperate with the centre. Each will pay an annual contribution of 250,000 euros, according to information given at a news conference in Linz on Thursday.

Plug and Play will search for start-ups and technologies that can offer the companies solutions to specific challenges. The state’s partnership with the organisation will initially run for three years, with the centre scheduled to begin work in October. The start-up incubator tech2b will manage the project for the state.

“New technologies should not create value and jobs somewhere else, but remain here in Upper Austria,” Governor Thomas Stelzer of the Austrian People’s Party said. He described the partnership with Plug and Play as an important step for Upper Austria as an industrial and innovation location.