Greece's proposal for one of seven artificial intelligence (AI) factories in Europe, 'Pharos - The Greek AI Factory for accelerating AI innovation' is included in the first round of building AI Factories in Europe.
As announced on Tuesday, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) selected seven proposals worth 1.5 billion euros in total for AI Factories in Athens, Barcelona, Bissen (Luxembourg), Bologna, Kajaani (Finland), Linköping (Sweden), and Stuttgart. The seven AI Factories involve 15 member states and two EuroHPC participating states.
EuroHPC has called the event "a major milestone for Europe, in building a thriving ecosystem to train advanced AI models and develop AI solutions."
Greece's proposal 'Pharos' was submitted by the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET SA), a public sector technology company under the auspices of the Ministry of Digital Governance. Pharos will focus on health, the Greek language and culture, and sustainable development. It is expected to contribute decisively to the development and continuous support of an innovative and competitive ecosystem of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greece.
Pharos is budgeted at 30 million euros, funded equally (50%-50%) by EuroHPC and national resources. Its start of operation is scheduled in March 2025, with a total duration of 36 months.
The project is part of flagship projects under the Plan for Greece's Transition to the AI era, formulated by a consultation committee on AI. It will use the 'Daedalus' supercomputer deployed in Greece by EuroHPC, allowing collaboration with other AI Factories and resulting in benefits to all EU citizens.
Some of its expected contributions include improving Greece's competitiveness through access to large data and highly skilled personnel, analysis of satellite data to manage natural resources and handle climate change, and training talent, while creating a trans-border innovation ecosystem.
Implementation
Pharos will be implemented by a national consortium headed by GRNET, in collaboration with the 'Demokritos' National Centre For Scientific Research, the National Technical University of Athens ('Polytechnic'), the 'Athena' Research Center, and Growthfund/National Investment Fund, in direct collaboration with the government's Special Secretariat of Strategic Foresight.
Additional agencies partipating in the Pharos AI Factory project include the National Center for Research and Techhnology (EKETA), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the National Capodistrian University of Athens, the Foundation for Research and Technology (ITE), the University of Piraeus, the National Documentation Center (EKT), and the social security database IDIKA SA. (EKT and IDIKA are agencies of the Ministry of Digital Governance.)
