Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the UK & Germany: Synergies, Opportunities and the Future

View the Outcomes Report here.

About Global Expert Missions

The Global Expert Missions (GEM) programme is funded by Innovate UK to support the Industrial Strategy’s ambition for the UK to be the international partner of choice for science and innovation. Led by KTN, GEMs play an important role in building strategic partnerships, providing deep insight into the opportunities for UK innovation and shaping future bilateral collaboration programmes.

In December 2020, a Global Expert Mission took place to better understand the German research and innovation landscape and establish potential opportunities for UK-German collaboration to tackle Artificial Intelligence (AI). This online seminar taking place on the 9th June 2021 will disseminate the outputs and findings of the Mission, inform participants of forthcoming AI funding opportunities in Horizon Europe*, highlight perspectives from the German industry, and include plenty of time for a panel session and networking.

AI in Germany

Germany has a goal of becoming World Leader in AI and robotics. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in 2018 that approx 3 billion euros ($3.93 billion) would be invested in AI by 2025.

AI in the UK

The UK is currently ranked third in the world in the first global AI index and acknowledged to have a world-leading AI ecosystem that is home to a third of Europe’s total AI companies, twice as many as any other European country. In March 2021 the Government announced that a new strategy will be published later on this year which will detail the plan to make the UK a global centre for the development, commercialisation and adoption of responsible AI.

Within Horizon Europe there are exciting opportunities for the UK and Germany to collaborate in the development of safe, secure and transparent AI, and now is the right time as both countries seek to rapidly grow their economies through innovative AI technologies and collaboration.

Who should attend?

This event hosted by KTN Global Alliance in strategic partnership with Innovate UK and UK Science and Innovation in Germany is aimed at people who attended the AI in Germany Expert Mission, as well as start-ups, SMEs, academics, researchers and established businesses of all sizes interested or involved in innovating within the AI sector and looking towards international collaboration.

* Horizon Europe is the next European Funding Framework Programme following on from its predecessor Horizon 2020. It will run for seven years from 2021 to 2027. The total budget set for the programme is €95.5 billion. There are six Clusters under Pillar 2: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.

• 13:00 – Welcome
• 13:05 – The German AI Global Expert Mission – Sara El-Hanfy, Innovate UK
• 13:15 – Mission outcomes and conclusions – Phil Williams, KTN
• 13:25 – Mission perspectives from the delegates – Pahini Pandya, Panakeia Technologies, Sam Chapman, The Floow, Andrew Grant, Imagination Technologies
• 13:45 – Perspectives from across the German R&D Landscape – Daniela Reima, UK Science & Innovation Network, Cedric Amon, Forum Digital Technologies, DFKI, Ramin Karbalaie, KI Bundesverband and NAIX-Technology
• 14:00 – Break
• 14:10 – AI in Horizon Europe –Viola Hay, KTN, Alexandra Fezer, S2i/Steinbeis Europa Zentrum
• 14:30 – UK-Germany Collaboration in AI – Panel Discussion – Ramin Karbalaile, KI Bundesverband and NAIX-Technology, Alexandra Fezer, S2i/Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Christian Müller, Forum Digital Technologies, DFKI , David Leslie, The Alan Turing InstituteJC Quillet, Digital Catapult, Viola Hay, KTN
• 15:00 – UK International Support – Chris Moore, Department for International Trade
• 15:10 – Close and next steps
• 15:20 – Break
• 15:30 – Networking and collaboration forming – Viola Hay, KTN