We are pleased to announce that Stefan Leijnen was elected to the Board of Directors of the 'AI, Data & Robotics Association' (Adra) on March 2, 2023 as the representative from the Netherlands of the European AI industry. We warmly congratulate Stefan on his appointment.
Adra is the European public-private partnership in the field of AI, data and robotics, whose founding partners include CLAIRE and ELLIS. It is important for the Netherlands to play a role in the development of new Programme's and policies as the European Commission has ambitious plans in the field of AI and Digitization. From the Netherlands, in addition to Stefan, Freek Bomhof of TNO has been appointed as the Data Research representative.
In Brussels, funding is increasingly available in the coming years and the European Commission is working with great strides towards AI Made in Europe: a European AI industry based on human-centered values and operating within European legislative frameworks. Adra is an important partner of the European Commission in developing this vision.
In Adra, the European Commission works with industry partners and knowledge institutions to research and create innovation for future use of AI, Data and Robotics (ADR). Among other things, Adra focuses on mapping and connecting ADR communities. In addition, Adra focuses on raising awareness about ADR in society, encouraging the adoption of ADR and developing sustainable standards.
Stefan Leijnen has been with the Netherlands AI Coalition since 2019 and responsible for the European positioning within the AiNed Programme since 2023. Stefan's appointment has come about partly thanks to the support of organizations from the Dutch AI ecosystem: the Netherlands AI Coalition, AI Hub Central Netherlands, AI Hub Brightlands, AI Hub East Netherlands, AI Hub North Netherlands, Real AI, Mooncake AI, Quantile, RUNNR.ai, Brush AI and AiNed.