Ludovic Dibiaggio, director of the SKEMA Knowledge, Technology, and Organisation (KTO) research centre, gave a talk as an expert and researcher on “What is an AI ecosystem?” After the conference, he answered our questions.
Can you tell us more about this conference and your talk on “What is an AI ecosystem?”
This web conference was organised by the Alpes-Maritimes Departmental Council and the
Artificial Intelligence Centre, at the initiative of Marco Landi, president of
Smart Deal 06. Its aim was to pinpoint the contours of the Côte d’Azur AI ecosystem and its assets, in order to understand and strengthen the links between its many players more effectively. Understanding and boosting the dynamics of this ecosystem will enable a City of Artificial Intelligence to be built in the Côte d'Azur.
How can this nascent AI-related ecosystem be developed?
The conference focused precisely on the conditions for the emergence and development of an ecosystem or ecosystems linked to artificial intelligence on the Côte d'Azur. The advantage of referring to an ecosystem is to highlight the importance of creating synergies between local players belonging to different environments, which do not have an obvious reason to work together.
So, more than the size of infrastructures or efficient coordination, the development of an ecosystem depends on the ability of very different communities to build a common language and common representations, or even create a common identity, so that they can deal with uncertain or unexpected situations coherently.
How can this ambition be given practical form?
It is essential for scientists, engineers, managers, political decision-makers, teachers, journalists, and so on, to be able to meet up and discuss joint perspectives and projects. So, all the speakers explained how everyone was contributing to this ambition at their own level and working to take an active role in the emerging ecosystem. While the territory's assets are undeniable, there is still a need to build a common representation enabling entrepreneurs from very different environments, like agriculture and the automobile industry, to realise the potential of the ecosystem. While the diversity of activities and initiatives is an undeniable advantage, everyone acknowledged the key role played by the Côte d’Azur University (of which SKEMA is a founding member) and the département’s academic institutions.
The next step involves working on a map of the ecosystem – not to set the players’ role and positions in stone, but to provide a common representation of the ecosystem’s identity and make it easier to pinpoint potential synergies that would support entrepreneurial initiatives in the territory.