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Armin Stein

CLAIRE: Challenges for Creating a Unified European AI Community with a Human-Centred Focus

Tuesday, 15. December 2020 - 12:00 to Friday, 29. March 2024 - 12:00

Title: “CLAIRE: Challenges for Creating a Unified European AI Community with a Human-Centred Focus” by


SpeakersPhilipp Slusallek and Silke Balzert-Walter. Philipp Slusallek is Executive Director at DFKI (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) Saarbrücken and Scientific Director of the research department Agents and Simulated Reality. He is a professor for Computer Graphics at Saarland University since 1999, co-initiated the Cluster of Excellence "Multimodal Computing and Interaction" in 2007 and was Research Director of the Intel Visual Computing Institute in Saarbrücken from 2009-2017. Before coming to Saarland University, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University. Philipp Slusallek is a Fellow of the Eurographics Association, member of acatech (German Academy of Engineering Sciences), and member of the European High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence. In 2018, together with Holger Hoos and Morten Irgens he initiated CLAIRE and is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at CLAIRE AISBL. Philipp Slusallek published more than 200 scientific papers, his research covers a wide range of topics including artificial intelligence, simulated/digital reality, high-performance computing and others.


Silke Balzert-Walter works as a senior consultant at DFKI Saarbrücken and is the head of the German CLAIRE office. She is successfully leading projects for more than 10 years at DFKI (industry, national and European research projects in the areas of artificial intelligence, business process management, technology-enhanced and organizational learning and smart services) as well as in industry (management consulting and information technology sector/Product Service Solutions). In addition, she built and led several teams, among them one focusing on research and technology transfer in the DFKI research department Agents and Simulated Reality. Silke Balzert-Walter is a member of the CLAIRE core team and coordinates the activities related to the new Innovation (Industry) Network of the initiative. She holds a diploma in Business Administration (Dipl.-Kffr.) and a doctoral degree in Information Systems (Dr. rer. oec.), both from Saarland University.


Abstract: The Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe (CLAIRE, https://claire-ai.org) is an organisation created by the European AI community that seeks to strengthen European excellence in AI research and innovation with a strong focus on human-centred AI. CLAIRE aims to ensure that societies and citizens across all of Europe, and beyond, benefit from AI as a major driver of innovation, future growth and competitiveness, and to achieve world-wide brand recognition for "AI made in Europe". Founded in 2018, CLAIRE has garnered the support of more than 3,500 AI experts and stakeholders, and its network consists of over 380 research groups and institutions, covering jointly 22,000 employees in 36 countries. Furthermore, CLAIRE is currently in the process of setting up an Innovation Network that, together with the established Research Network, will foster a strong link between academia and industry.


Our presentation will give you an overview about the amazing journey of CLAIRE from an initiative launched with a vision document signed by 600 senior researchers and key stakeholders in June 2018 to an international non-profit organization with a plethora of activities in AI research, innovation and policy. We will give you some insights in our day-to-day work building up a strong community as well as more mature organizational structures which are based on the generous contribution and support of many people from all over Europe. Last but not least, we will let you know about some of our current activities and how you can get involved in CLAIRE to shape the future of AI in Europe together with us.