Digitalization and coronavirus
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Finland's artificial intelligence field joins forces to help with the economic and health challenges caused by the coronavirus crisis

The Technology Industries of Finland, Silo.AI and Finland’s Artificial Intelligence Accelerator have launched an open call to gather a team of leading artificial intelligence experts to help with economic and health related challenges during the COVID-19 crisis.

The artificial intelligence task force focuses on the technical development work, together with other existing projects and actors.

– We aim to leverage AI to support decision-making. As an example, with the analysis of large data sets it is possible to predict economic development, says Peter Sarlin, CEO and Co-founder of the largest private AI lab in the Nordics, Silo.AI.

The first concrete project of the task force is related to economic nowcasting,forecasting and economic modeling. The work will be carried out in cooperation with an expert group initiated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Finance, where economists Vesa Vihriälä, Bengt Holmström work on recommendations how Finland could recover from the crisis.

– For businesses it is important to understand the industry and company specific risks and improve the overall situational awareness. Better awareness and understanding of the situation will likely have a significant positive impact on companies' investment decisions, says Jaakko Hirvola, CEO of Technology Industries of Finland.

The project collaborates with several other organizations, such as the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics' Tilannehuone, the Talouskriisi.fi initiative and Accountor, who provide financial and human resources management services and systems to more than 150,000 Finnish SMEs. 

– Another clear need is health-related solutions. The group aims to involve stakeholders to develop these in the future projects. Our hope is to help organizations under pressure such as THL, National emergency supply agency and HUS, Sarlin describes.

– The Artificial Intelligence Task Force will focus on projects that can quickly respond to the key challenges at hand. It is good to be aware of what we can achieve in the short term, therefore the most important thing is to work together and help existing projects. There is a great demand for good joint efforts at the European level, says Pekka Ala-Pietilä, one of the group's advisors, chairman of the EU’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence.

In addition to experts, others are also expected to take the initiative in raising awareness of important projects which the task force could assist in. Projects can come from different sectors of society, and the participation of the AI ​​group will be decided by a high-level advisory group, which will be published in the coming weeks.

You can register for the task force via the form on Finland’s  AI Accelerator's website (www.faia.fi). Any concrete projects in which the contribution of the artificial intelligence team would be useful can also be submitted via the same website.

Further information:

Alexander Törnroth, Finnish Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, tel. +358 40 1877 353, alexander.tornroth@teknologiateollisuus.fi

Jaakko Hirvola, Technology Industries of Finland, tel. +358 400 633 751, jaakko.hirvola@teknologiateollisuus.fi

Peter Sarlin, Silo.AI, tel: +358 40 572 7670, peter.sarlin@silo.ai