Together with a consortium of partners consisting of research and educational institutions, the Institute of Physics Belgrade has secured a €3.8-million European Commission project in artificial intelligence, which is to launch the so-called Artificial Intelligence Factory Antenna in Serbia.
The Serbian Artificial Intelligence Antenna Factory Project, in which the Institute will take part, will become a national platform for AI development and testing, a hub supporting AI innovations throughout the entire life-cycle. SAIFA will provide access to computing resources, AI tools, curated datasets, and consulting services for academia, public administration, startups, and industry. The factory will focus on sectors such as culture and language, environment, healthcare, and energy production.
As part of the existing AI factories – Pharos AI Factory in Greece and IT4LIA AI Factory in Italy, SAIFA will advance the processes of validation, benchmarking, and scalable deployment of AI solutions across Europe. Along with this, the integration with the national high-performance computing infrastructure will enable the advancement of AI technologies on the national level.
The partners participating in this project, along with the Institute of Physics Belgrade, include the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade (the project coordinator), the Mihajlo Pupin Institute, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Serbia, the Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac, the Institute of Molecular Genetic and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, Metroolitan University and the Office for IT and Electronic Administration.
The decision on new AI Factory Antennas arrives at a moment when the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is visiting the Western Balkans. It was she who announced two new locations for AI factories, one in Serbia and one in Northern Macedonia. Von der Leyen stated that it was a key step in the integration of the region into Europe’s growing AI ecosystem. She added that the new locations would offer local companies, researchers and startups access to advanced infrastructure and expertise in the field of artificial intelligence, fostering cross-border cooperation and encouraging innovation across the continent.