CitCom.ai - AI TEF SCC

CitCom.ai, one of the EU's four so-called TEFs (see below), will help innovative companies to "early" get help in analyzing how they need to equip themselves to understand what will be required of their data-driven service/product and business model, in relation to the new EU laws and directives linked to data and AI that are about to be decided and come into force. Public organizations will also be able to benefit from the TEF in that they can both benefit from learning from the collaboration with the TEF and also know which data-driven services and products they can procure and use.

In this way, CitCom.ai could be seen as a complement to RISE's smart city activities which are carried out together with the municipalities. In the project Smart City Lab, for example, the main focus is on the municipalities' data management and here CitCom.ai will be able to provide practical support to the municipalities' suppliers, so that they deliver solutions that meet the requirements of EU regulations and which also match the municipalities' requirements and expectations .

FACTS

CitCom.ai is one of the EU's four AI TEFs (Testing and Experimental Facilities for Smart and Sustainable Cities and Societies). The idea of a TEF is for technology providers to have access to technical support to test, demo and validate their latest data-driven software and hardware technologies (including AI-powered robotics) in real-world environments. The aim is to contribute to a wide range of European certified AI services/products and at the same time facilitate procuring public organizations.

What will one be able to do in a TEF?

The TEFs will include support for the full integration, testing and experimentation of the latest AI-based technologies to solve problems/improve solutions in a given use area, including validation and demonstration. The focus will be on testing mature AI-based technologies and solutions, which have already been tested in labs, and which in the next step need to be tested in real environments.

A little more concretely, RISE, together with other participants in the project consortium, will offer:

• technical support to complete data-driven services and/or products;
• provide data, HPC (high performance computing), digital twins, test beds, Living labs, etc.,
• contribute to the definition of MIM 6 (minimal interoperable mechanisms) relating to cyber security,
• ensure compatibility with GDPR, AI Act, Data Act, Interoperable Europe Act and more (validation and guidance)
• contribute with ethical perspective on data and service
• providing cyber security in the testbeds and corporate services (RISE Cyber Range).

RISE's focus in this project is partly to, via the RISE Cyber Range, be responsible for cyber security issues in all the testbeds that will be offered in the project, and partly in the data-driven services and products that are tested in the TEF. Another focus is to see how existing testbeds and activities at RISE could be included in this context and thus increase the scope of the overall offer.

Why are we doing this now?

There are several reasons why this investment is being made now. The cities in the EU have agreed on how they need to coordinate in order to share data and digital services with each other, making the market ripe and ready for the next step. At the same time, a lot of different laws and regulations are being finalized at the EU level – Data Act, Interoperable Europe Act, AI Act and more, which could inhibit the development of innovative data-driven services and products on the European market. Therefore, the EU Commission has created TEFs that will offer support to help companies do the right thing.

Results

When the project has ended the expected results are:
 

• Established "CE marking" of data-driven services and products/AI systems
• Easy for public organizations to procure smart services and products
• Worked interoperability principles that everyone follows
• A wide range of European certified data-driven services and products/AI systems in smart and sustainable cities and communities

Who is there?

CitCom.ai is coordinated by imec and over 20 other organizations from 10 countries are participating. RISE is responsible for Sweden's participation in the project. Together with members of RISE AI Test and Evaluation Network, Cyber Range, Private 5G network in Electrum and ElectriCity in Hammarby sjöstad, RISE offers access to several physical and digital facilitites for test, evaluation, experimentation, analysis and validation. 

A total of 11 member countries and around 50 different organizations from business, academia and the public sector participate in the project.

This TEF - with a focus on testing and evaluation of AI systems for smart and sustainable cities and communities - is located in the Connected Society unit at RISE.