April 09, 2020

The Research Ministers of Germany and France, Anja Karliczek and Frédérique Vidal, have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) for a Franco-German research and innovation network. As a framework agreement, the declaration strengthens the cooperation between the countries in the research field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In her role as the German coordinator for the collaboration of the German and French AI centers, ML2R-spokesperson Prof. Dr. Katharina Morik played a decisive role in the development process of the document.

With the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation (MESRI), the framework declaration for the intensified Franco-German research cooperation on Artificial Intelligence has come into effect. The German and French Research Ministers, Anja Karliczek and Frédérique Vidal, signed the documents in Berlin and Paris.

Within the framework of the JDoI, both countries affirm their intention to intensify the bilateral, cross-border cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Activities on the subject matter can henceforth be bundled on the basis of the national strategies and new research as well as economic cooperations are made possible. Central actors of the agreement are the network of six German AI centers and the AI institutes of the French national AI program. Concrete cooperation measures will include, for example, joint research proposals, exchange programs for students and postgraduates, the establishment of guest professorships, the formation of AI clusters with a focus on specific priority sectors, and the organization of joint events and workshops.

The German competence centers and French AI institutes were significantly involved in the preparation of the JDoI. The cooperation was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Katharina Morik, spokesperson of ML2R and coordinator of the German AI centers, and Prof. Dr. Bertrand Braunschweig, coordinator of the French national AI program at the institute Inria. Their joint collaboration started in late 2018 at a meeting of German and French AI experts.

The Joint Declaration of Intent is available online in German and French.