DSTI’s a founding member of the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute (Institut Interdisciplinaire d’Intelligence Artificielle) – 3IA Côte d’Azur. This project, supported by David Simplot, Director of the INRIA Sophia-Antipolis Méditerranée Center and Innovation Vice-President of Université Côte d’Azur, was confirmed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation on Wednesday, April 24th 2019. This announcement was made at the conclusion of a call for expression of interest launched in July 2018, and two selection phases (November 2018 and April 2019) by a jury of international and independent experts.
As part of the National Programme for Artificial Intelligence announced by President Emmanuel Macron in March 2018 during the “AI for Humanity” day, the State decided to create a network composed of a small number of 3IA institutes. A call for expression of interest was therefore announced in late July 2018 to collect applications. Of the twelve applications, only four were selected: Grenoble, Paris, Toulouse and Côte d’Azur. These four 3IA institutes are labeled for a four-year period and will mobilise a global financial envelope of 75 million euros.
3IA Côte d’Azur will be located at the Sophia Tech Campus, in the heart of Sophia-Antipolis, Europe’s leading science and technology park. Supported by the Université Côte d’Azur, and its many organisations, this project will bring together a hundred researchers around four essential axes: “fundamental AI”, “AI in computational medicine”, “computational biology and bio-inspired AI” and “AI and smart and secure cities”. These world-class specialists will focus on training, research and transfer to businesses.
The 3IA project includes major actors such as INSERM, EUROCOM, Mines ParisTech and SKEMA Business Schools with the support of CEA, CHU de Nice, CNES, Data ScienceTech Institute, INRA and some territorial economic development actors.
Some reactions
According to David Simplot, Director of the INRIA Sophia-Antipolis Méditerranée Center and 3IA Côte d’Azur project leader, “What is important to remember about the 3IA Côte d’Azur project is, above all, that it was carried by all members of higher education and research of the territory, for which research in artificial intelligence is an important axis, and that companies are strongly mobilized on the file, which corresponds to the DNA of the ecosystem. This project is just the beginning and the next steps are the establishment of the 3IA chairs but also of some working groups to build interdisciplinary topics, in coordination with INSERM and INRA on health and biology matters. On the “smart territories” matter, our challenge is to succeed in raising and attracting talents that can apply for 3IA chairs“.
For Jean Léonetti, Mayor of Antibes-Juan Les Pins, President of the Sophia-Antipolis Urban Community “this labeling shows once again how dynamic and attractive the area of Sophia Antipolis is. On the eve of its 50th anniversary, which will also be an opportunity to showcase the 3IA Institute, Sophia Antipolis is more than ever ranked as Europe’s leading technology park“.
