Finnish AI Region

ongoing

Finnish AI Region EDIH (FAIR) provides free or subsidized services to SMEs to advance their digital and green transformation on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis. The technological focus of FAIR is on AI, but we also offer expertise in cybersecurity, high-performance computing, and Extended Reality (XR). Geographically, FAIR services cover the whole Finland with emphasis on Southern Finland. FAIR supports mainly local companies in the region and utilizes existing competencies and infrastructures in the region. At the core of FAIR are 1) the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), which is an ecosystem founded and run by AALTO, UH and VTT, and 2) the three major capital region cities (Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa). FAIR has deeper collaboration with selected EDIHs inside Finland and in Europe, but intends to collaborate with and strengthen the whole EDIH network. Thus, FAIR will be able to offer an extended set of services. In addition, FAIR cooperates with many actors, including with DEP projects and multiplies the outcomes of DEP and HE projects. Our target customers are SMEs operating in the areas of digital services, smart cities and health. These SMEs are expected to have at least a basic understanding of AI. A typical example of a customer is a company that is already an established player in its own application area and now aims to launch a new product/service harnessing AI, but lacks the expertise and means to correctly validate, implement, maintain and further develop the new AI based service in practice. It can also be a company that aims to improve its operations with a third-party AI solution, but does not have the needed expertise to compare available services nor to implement them efficiently.