The Italian Institute of AI launches a platform for SMEs

After more than a year of trials and with around 200 companies – including service providers and SMEs – already involved, the aim is to accelerate technology transfer and foster the development of bespoke artificial intelligence solutions for businesses. The Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI4I) is set to launch, at a national level, in partnership with Unioncamere, a new model of technology transfer centred on AI and aimed at SMEs. The key strength of the proposal – which forms the basis of an agreement between the Institute, chaired by Fabio Pammolli and established at the Government’s behest, and the chamber of commerce system – is the SUK platform, or System for User Knowledge.

It is a fully-fledged marketplace featuring 140 qualified providers, 186 artificial intelligence solutions, 59 innovative start-ups, around 70 participating SMEs, over 70 structured business requirements and 30 matching processes already underway. The system was first tested in Turin, where the Institute is based, as part of the AI Match Torino programme, in order to validate a technology transfer model that supports SMEs in adopting Artificial Intelligence-based solutions. The challenge now is to scale up this model – which has already yielded a number of success stories, even among small businesses – at a national level, with the support of the Chambers of Commerce network. This will demonstrate that the model is not only viable and scalable but can also be applied across different industrial sectors. The project concluded on 15 July with the selection of the twenty companies that will proceed to the implementation phase, following a structured process involving training, assessment, the definition of use cases, technology matching and specialist mentoring.

For businesses, particularly small and medium-sized ones, the key lies in translating specific needs into feasible projects, by identifying technologies and partners that align with their objectives. Suk gathers and organises businesses’ requirements and facilitates a guided matching process between industrial needs and ready-to-implement technological solutions, through a specific approach to promoting technology transfer that offers an alternative to the traditional model. It draws on the AI4I Institute’s ability to act as coordinator of a qualified network for technological and industrial sourcing.

Whilst disseminating best practice regarding emerging AI-based technologies is the project’s primary objective, one of its ambitions is to support and develop the network of Italian ICT companies, within the context of the AI Act and the roll-out of artificial intelligence in industrial settings. At the heart of the model developed in Turin and designed for SMEs across Italia lies the matching process: AI4I analyses the use case developed in collaboration with the company, identifies the most suitable providers and facilitates a series of technical discussions aimed at defining the most appropriate project solution. This approach has led to the development of five use cases across a wide range of sectors, from AI applications for food quality assurance to quality control using computer vision in packaging, as well as smart access systems for museums, talent development and design processes in industrial design.