People and skills

The lightning-fast developments in AI can also be seen in the labor market. Specialist training and education in application areas where AI can be applied promisingly can hardly cope with the required rapid growth in pace and scale. For the professionals already working, they need to rapidly acquire new AI knowledge and skills because AI will radically change their sector and their field of work.

This subprogram focuses on hands-on AI development, education and training, for students and for employees working in innovative and early adopting SMEs and (semi-)public organizations. The subprogram includes the following program components:

• AiNed Learning communities
• AiNed Training Voucher

Learning communities achieve economies of scale in AI education by making learning, innovation and work of workers and students take place in conjunction with each other. Practical innovation and training, and the translation of new knowledge into education and training programs are being worked on. Thereby, joint research and work on use cases of SMEs is central in intensive, short-cycle and goal-oriented activities. Where relevant, the learning communities involve knowledge and experience from AiNed Innovation Labs and ELSA Labs.

A network of AI learning communities to be established connects directly to regional SMEs and regional focus of AI applications. The impetus for this network was made with the support of the NL AIC from the kickstart funding in the SIA Pilot Program Applied AI Learning communities. A grant budget of €30 million is available in 2023 and 2024 to establish at least 10 AI learning communities.

The call for proposals AiNed Learning Communities 2024 was launched on February 29. With this call, AiNed invites Dutch enterprises (SMEs) and civil society organizations to increase their AI knowledge and skills. The approach of a Learning Community is based on case-based learning. In the AiNed Programme , €28.4 million has been made available for Learning Communities, which will be awarded in two rounds. EUR 15.6 million is available for the first round in 2024. Full proposals must be submitted by July 5, 2024. Look here for more information.

This program component makes available a grant totaling 18 million euros for the training and (re)education and certification of 14,000 employees at companies and public organizations.

More information will follow when details are known.

Publication date March 2024.