AI-driven data operations and compliance technologies (AI, data and robotics partnership) (IA) -

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• To enable companies and public sector to easily comply with existing and emerging regulation (e.g. GDPR[1], Data Governance Act[2], Data Act, Artificial Intelligence Act[3]) and create value on data assets that they possess or that they acquire from the market, and to allow citizens to feel more confident that data-driven systems treat them in a fair, unbiased and compliant way and respect their privacy/anonymity and other rights, and keep track of the use of personal data in a world where “everything” moves online.
• Define, quantify and measure bias in data sets (especially those used for AI development).
• Shorten the time-to-market and reduce development costs of compliant data solutions
• Contribute to open, trusted and federated Common European data spaces.
• Quantify and reduce the environmental footprint of data operations which will contribute to the Green Deal target “no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050”[4].

Scope

Developing, piloting and integrating systems, compliance tools and data economy enablers that process the increasing data volumes more efficiently, distil more useful knowledge from data, and contribute to the measurement, labelling, certification and reduction of the environmental footprint of massive data operations (e.g. by minimizing data transfers/traffic, improving energy reuse and/or reducing energy consumption of AI training/machine learning, privacy preservation and other processes).

The technologies should respond to the emerging needs for practical, affordable and automated compliance tools (e.g. privacy preservation, smart contracting, consent management, bias detection, quality measurement, tracking of uses of data etc.), as well as design principles and architectures that are inherently compliant, addressing the relevant cybersecurity issues. Compliance should be understood in the broad sense, involving legal, ethical and environmental compliance. The competences represented in the consortium should cover all the relevant aspects (technical, legal, commercial, societal, ethical) appropriately.

The aim is to provide Common European data spaces[5] and AI data provision with reliable mechanisms to monitor, control and track/record transactions on data, to ensure compliance.

To this end, projects are invited to employ appropriate technologies and methods, such as federated and distributed AI/analytics and associate them with trustworthy AI techniques; protect privacy and confidentiality of AI training data and reduce energy footprint.

Proposed actions should build on or seek collaboration with existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant European, national or regional initiatives, funding programmes and platforms. In particular, they should build on the results of the Horizon 2020 data platform projects (topic ICT-13-2019) and the results of projects selected under topic HORIZON-CL4-2021-DATA-01-01, as well as the projects to be selected under topic HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-01. Likewise, the proposed actions should create links and seek synergies, where appropriate, with the Common European Data Spaces and European Digital Innovation Hubs funded under the Digital Europe programme. Interoperability for data sharing should be addressed, where relevant, focusing on open, standardised, and trusted concepts.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics.

Activities are expected to start at TRL 4-5 and achieve TRL 6-7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

[1]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679

[2]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R0868

[3]The Data Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act are (at the time of writing this WP) at the stage of Commission legislative proposals. They are likely to be adopted by the closure of the call, and will appear in the Eur-lex repository of legislation.

[4]See the communication “The European Green Deal” https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1576150542719&uri=COM%3A2019%3A640%3AFIN

[5]As defined in the communication “A European strategy for data”, see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0066

News flashes