EU Commission to unveil its new sectoral AI uptake strategy

The European Commission will unveil on Wednesday (8 October) its new strategy for installing AI across many European sectors.

According to a leaked draft proposal seen by EUobserver, the outlined strategy aims to encourage companies and public sector entities to adopt an 'AI-first' strategy. 

That idea was fleshed-out by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the Italian Tech Week last week as “Whenever a company or public office faces a new challenge, the first question must be: How can AI help?”

The strategy suggests achieving this goal through addressing specific sectoral AI needs, tackling cross-cutting challenges to AI adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and establishing new AI cooperation bodies. 

Integrating AI into key industries is a current focus for the EU because of concerns around the competitiveness of European industries on the global scene. 

In its September 2024 report, the Future of European Competitiveness, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi emphasised how adding AI into industries needs to be a key factor for increased productivity on the continent, while also wanting to ensure that Europe is part of the financial and industrial growth expected from AI.

For example, the report mentions that because of generative AI, the pharmaceutical and medical device industry could grow between ¢60-110bn [€51-94bn] per year – the EU wants some of that growth. 

With this strategy, the EU commission hopes to see an uptake of AI across multiple key European sectors.

In healthcare and pharmaceuticals, they will establish European AI-powered advanced screening centres and create a European Network of Expertise on AI Deployment in Healthcare, addressing best practices for AI use.

For manufacturing engineering and construction, the EU commission aims to create a vast accessible industrial data pool for stakeholders to access, and also plans to fund accelerated pipelines between when a tool is developed in the lab, to when it can be deployed in the field.  

For the public sector, they plan to revise the European Interoperability Framework to create guidance for using AI systems in public administration, and accelerate adoption of scalable and reliable generative AI in the area. 

They also intend to create both an AI toolbox and, and technical and policy toolkit.

The draft also outlines similar initiatives for aiding the uptake of AI in robotics, defence and security, mobility and transport, electronic communications, energy, climate and environment, agri-food, and culture and creative sectors.

To develop the tools for these changes, the commission will launch the Frontier AI Initiative, which aims to accelerate these AI processes in Europe by assembling industrial, academic and strategic actors. 

And aid research through the Horizon Europe programme, fund targeted research on the next-generation AI of systems.

Horizon Europe has already funded some AI initiatives, with €50m invested into AI technologies from the 2023-2024.

And to better prepare the workforce, the commission will offer specific sectoral AI training through the AI Skills Academy.

Along with encouraging industry to upskill and train current workers, with extra attention on training industries whose employees are at risk of displacement.

To make it easier for SMEs to adopt AI technologies, now regulated under the AI Act, the commission is setting up an AI Act Service Desk, and an interactive compliance tool, along with providing more explicit guidance on the act's classification system and its interplay with other Union laws. 

However, all these methods might have to be revised in the coming future, as the AI Act might be revised by the proposed Digital Omnibus, which aims, in part, to simplify legislation concerning artificial intelligence

Then, under the AI Board created in the AI Act, there will now be an Apply AI Alliance, evolving the current AI alliance into a coordination forum for AI stakeholders. 

This body is supposed to be an entry-point to connect different stakeholders together, making it easier for colleagues or potential business partners to meet and network, while also creating an AI Observatory to observe the active trends and impacts of AI use across the continent. 

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