Helsingborg takes the lead in applied AI for cities

As an important puzzle piece in the ambition to become one of Europe’s most innovative cities, the City of Helsingborg has announced a number of initiatives that put the city at the forefront of applied AI (artificial intelligence) in Sweden.

A national resource for smart city AI applications · The City of Helsingborg is establishing a data lab and data factory that will become a national resource for AI applications in the smart city. Under the name Smarter City Lab, a cross-sectoral data factory is created and made available to other cities and the public sector, the business community, the academy and to residents. Sweden’s Innovation Agency Vinnova is supporting the initiative and Smarter City Lab will provide infrastructure/architecture for handling various datasets as well as development tools and competencies within AI. The architecture will be characterized by openness, scalability and applicability making work and experiences accessible to other cities and partners, thereby helping to accelerate AI applications in Sweden.

“It’s not who has the best algorithm that wins. It’s who has the most data.”

– Andrew Ng (Stanford University) 

The AI factory will initially be located at Hbg Works, Sweden’s first municipality accelerator, offering opportunities for external partners to have their development resources located at Smarter City Lab. Voi technology, IBM and Microsoft are three examples of organizations that already have chosen to contribute with datasets, knowledge and/or capabilities. [Read more]

Cross sectoral AI center with full focus on applied AI · In November 2019, Get AI was founded – an AI center fully focused on how to make the best use of ML (machine learning) and AI in both the private and public sectors. Get AI is a business initiative by a handful of Swedish companies, with support from the City of Helsingborg. Get AI is membership-based and will include large global as well as small local companies, the startup community, the academy, and the public sector. The center will be located in the Prisma building in the new city district Oceanhamnen. Prisma will be completed by the end of 2020 and the spectacular building, only a stone’s throw from Helsingborg Central Station, will become a 13,000 sqm tech house, also including the tech hub Hetch and the start-up community SUP46, among others.

In addition to being an AI-center, Get AI will offer AI-related education on different levels, from elementary school classes and SME management teams to higher education and tailored training. [Read more]

Application-oriented research projects within AI testing and IoT testbeds · The City of Helsingborg has granted funding for several research projects at Lund University – Campus Helsingborg.

One of them, “AI meta-testbed in Helsingborg”, will investigate how a test environment for quality assurance of AI applications can be set up in Helsingborg. The goal is to become a national resource for AI-testing. Companies will be offered the latest findings in Al testing, take part in course activities and be part of applied research focused on the evaluation and adaptation of Al testing. All institutes at Lund University will be associated with the testbed, and students will be able to carry out their degree projects in the controlled environment.

Another of the granted projects, “Research Environment for the Internet of Things (IoT)”, is entering its third year and aims to utilize the depth and multi-disciplinary breadth at Lund University – Campus Helsingborg, using Helsingborg as a research environment for IoT. [Read more]

Helsingborg takes the lead in applied AI · When the south node of AI Innovation of Sweden was announced just before Christmas, the City of Helsingborg was its first partner together with Sony. AI Innovation of Sweden is a national and neutral initiative, functioning as an engine in the Swedish AI ecosystem. The focus is on accelerating the implementation of AI through sharing knowledge and data, co-location of competences, and collaboration projects, all with a strong emphasis on ethics, transparency, and security. The south node is the second to be opened, after the first in Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg.

All in all, these initiatives mean that Helsingborg is serious about its ambition to be a leader in applied AI, and they are also important steps in Helsingborg’s goal to be one of Europe's most innovative cities by 2022.

A unique platform for collaboration between cities, companies, and academia · The City of Helsingborg has allocated SEK 250 million, earmarked for innovation projects over the next three years. The hub of this venture is H22 - The Making of a Smarter City (h22.se), which is both an open and cross sectoral innovation platform and a City Expo in Helsingborg in the summer of 2022. The purpose of H22 is to find new, smarter and more efficient ways to solve the challenges of tomorrow.

Within the H22 framework, the City of Helsingborg has attracted a large number of national and international partners from both the business and public sectors. Also, international organizations such as the UN, OECD, and Institute For The Future have joined the H22 initiative – to explore a smarter and more sustainable urban development and city life.

The many AI initiatives in Helsingborg, together with H22 – The Making of a Smarter City, creates a unique platform for collaboration between cities, companies, and academia, both in Sweden and internationally, to really get the use of AI in the private and public sectors – for the benefit of residents, businesses and society at large. [Watch an invitation to H22]