Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered an essential technology of the coming years– with extensive results on industry, services, medicine, mobility, and lots of other areas of society. At the exact same time, AI start-ups deal with significant obstacles, such as access to premium information and technical facilities, in addition to dealing with complicated legal frameworks and data protection. Sina Schmidt, task manager at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Transfer (CET) at TU Dortmund University, explains: “Lots of scientists thinking about establishing start-ups possess solid technical knowledge but encounter challenges in practical implementation. This is specifically where AICE.NRW is available in– with the objective of bridging the gap between excellent research study and successful entrepreneurship.”
Identifying possible and imparting proficiencies
AICE.NRW is aimed at all 30 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia and seeks to allow them to support AI-focused start-ups better. The focus center, developed jointly with the Transfer Center enaCom at the University of Bonn, will examine the present state, potentials, and challenges universities deal with in promoting AI-based start-ups. It will recognize future scientific AI topics and formulate suggestions for action. In addition, AICE.NRW aims to strengthen exchange and networking in between universities, developing itself as a central center for AI-based entrepreneurship assistance in NRW.
“At AICE.NRW, we will develop workshops and techniques for start-up coaches and transfer-oriented researchers,” says Sina Schmidt. “By doing this, start-up consultants and transfer actors at universities will be specifically certified as specialists in AI start-ups. Universities will therefore have the ability to act as incubators before the start-ups scale up.” In the coming months, the operational structures of the brand-new focus center will be established. Initial programs for credentials and networking are already being planned. CET Managing Director Dr. Ronald Kriedel notes: “Together with our partners in Bonn and throughout the whole university system in NRW, we look forward to bringing AICE.NRW to life– as an impulse generator for technology-oriented start-ups and as a driver for a sustainable development place in North Rhine-Westphalia.”
Contribution to development in NRW
With the “Start-up FocusCenters.NRW” program, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia aims to assist in the transfer of ingenious research concepts into viable company models. As a focus center, AICE.NRW is intended to guarantee that research does not stay submitted away in a drawer but discovers its way into practice– as items, services, or start-ups with real included value for society and the economy.
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