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Artificial intelligence in Italian SMEs, a 2 million call from the Digital Republic Fund is underway

The call for tenders for the “crescerAI” Digital Republic Fund is now underway. Supported by Google.org, it aims to select projects aimed at developing Artificial Intelligence-type solutions open source intended for small and medium-sized businesses Made in Italy, including social enterprises, with particular attention to companies operating in disadvantaged sectors and contexts. With “crescerAI”, explains a note, we want to “identify scalable projects, capable of generating a functional benefit to the needs of the productive fabric of Italian SMEs and social enterprises”.

According to estimates from the European Parliament, Artificial Intelligence will allow a growth in labor productivity of between 11% and 37% by 2035. Furthermore, Anitec-Assinform highlights how in Italy in 2022 the AI ​​market has reached a volume of over 400 million euros (+21.7%) and estimates that by 2025 it will reach 700 million. However, for Italy, the most recent ISTAT statistics highlight that the percentage of SMEs using AI systems is only 5.3%, compared to 24.3% of large companies.

“After only one year of operation, the social enterprise Fund for the Digital Republic is supported by a global player in digital innovation such as Google, with a grant that aims to identify AI solutions to benefit the growth of small and medium-sized businesses. This means giving all companies the opportunity to keep up and not fall behind” says Giovanni Fosti, President of the Social Enterprise Fund for the Digital Republic.

Who can participate in the call
Public and private non-profit entities – such as universities, research institutes and centres, and technology transfer centers – will be able to participate by submitting project proposals by 31 January 2024 through the Re@dy portal (www.portaleready.it). The tender offers a total of 2,200,000 euros.

For Melissa Ferretti Peretti, VP and Country Manager of Google Italy: “For years, Google has supported the Italian economy through investments in infrastructure, innovation funds and digital training programs. Today, artificial intelligence represents a new growth lever which requires a bold and responsible approach. We know that many Italian companies are interested in this transformation, but do not always have the tools or preparation to deal with it in the best possible way. As part of our commitment to the country, we want to help these companies not only to know the value of artificial intelligence, but also to understand how to best apply them in your sector and continue to grow”.

Projects deemed suitable will be supported at all stages to create, promote, apply and scale innovative AI solutions: proposals may include preliminary phases of research and development, testing and experimental application, implementation and scale-up of the proposed solution, also foreseeing the involvement of companies for the contribution of know how specific in the field of AI.

The finalist projects will also be evaluated by a panel of experts which includes Prof. Vincenzo Ambriola (Director of the Department of Computer Science of the University of Pisa), Prof. Raffaella Cagliano (Director of the Department of Management Engineering of the Polytechnic of Milan), Eleonora Faina (General Director of Anitec-Assinform), Mario Nobile (General Director of AgID), Agostino Santoni (Vice President of Confindustria with responsibility for Digital).

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