TRAIL: On the road to artificial intelligence
Five Francophone universities are joining forces with four research centres to launch a new Institute dedicated to research in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI).
Following the example of Flanders with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC), the universities of Brussels, Louvain-la-Neuve, Liège, Mons and Namur have decided to join forces by creating an interuniversity institute dedicated exclusively to artificial intelligence. Four Walloon research centres specialising in digital and new technologies (Sirris, Multitel, Cetic and Cenaero) are also involved in this new initiative, called TRAIL (Trusted AI Labs).
As Benoît Macq, professor at UCLouvain, explains, "Our university laboratories work in highly complementary fields (real-time data and image processing, security and cryptography, human-computer interaction, etc.). TRAIL and the pact of agreement we have concluded with the Digital Agency, AI 4 Belgium, and other authorities, will allow us to better promote the creation of AI talent and foster world-class cutting-edge research in Wallonia and Brussels."
In addition to attracting new talent, this new institute also aims to act as an incubator for new start-ups