2024-04-25 02:04:38
25 April 2024
04:00
The innovation center of the Belgian technology industry wants to focus on generative AI and is investing in its industrial demonstrators to increase its impact.
For 75 years, the mission of Sirris, the innovation center of the Belgian technology industry, has not evolved much. “Our mission is to help companies innovate, whether in their products or their processes, and more generally to successfully adopt new technologies in companies,” explains Herman Derache, who has led the structure for 10 years.
But with each technological revolution, the structure must adapt to successfully support the most 1,300 Belgian companies call on it every year. To stay ahead, Sirris will invest 5.5 million euros; 4 of them will be devoted to new industrial test and demonstration environments in its laboratories in Kortrijk, Genk and Charleroi. From December, SMEs in the Belgian manufacturing industry will be able to test and experiment with the most modern technologies, says the director. “The aim of these laboratories is to show companies what they can already achieve today with existing technologies, but also to try them with Proof of concept.”
“We have already invested around 14 million euros in artificial intelligence with several innovative companies.”
Focus on AI
In addition to its exploratory environments, Sirris wants to emphasize generative artificial intelligence and will spend 1.5 million euros on it this year. “We are going to focus more on AI, which is experiencing a dizzying acceleration. Since 2013, we have been closely following its industrial exploitation potential and we have already invested around 14 million euros in AI with several innovative companies injecting another 1.5 million euros. » A team of 22 people is completely dedicated to the topic at Sirris, but it is the structure’s 150 experts who will be trained in generative artificial intelligence “to be more efficient and offer alternatives in the field to our customers”.
From the first automated machine to AI
Sirris was created under the impetus of the Groote Act of 1947. This Act allowed sectoral unions to establish collective centres, based on the observation that most sectoral technological challenges are collective and that they require joint knowledge for the benefit of companies in the same sector.
In 75 years, the organization has particularly made possible the establishment at the end of the 1960s of the first numerically controlled machine (CNC) from Belgium, a fully automated machine controlled by a computer program. We owe him too the first Belgian 3D printer in 1990 at the Liège site. AI is an area that the corporate-funded structure of the technology sector has been working on for many years. For example, she has been conducting experiments with AI in an industrial context since 2009 in Brussels.
Sirri’s customers are mainly technology industry companies since it is an emanation of Agoria, the federation of the sector, and mainly of manufacturing SMEs. Every year Sirris supports 1,300, but would like to do more. “We want to increase our impact and reach more companies. The goal is to increase this number by 10%.”
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Funded by industry
“In Belgium, there is still a lot of work to be done to accelerate the use of new technologies.”
Contrary to what one might think, Sirris is not a public structure and wish to remain private. “It is a choice to remain private and driven by the industry. Our strength is being close to the industrial world, and the financial threshold to access our services shows the company’s desire to engage with us. In addition to funding from companies in the sector, it relies on regional, federal and European subsidies to finance its activity.The rest of the funding comes from direct customers.
For many companies, Sirris becomes a research and development department. “In Belgium, there is still a lot of work to be done to accelerate the adoption of new technologies, especially within SMEs, which represent 80% of Belgian companies. In fact, they need to be advised more by external experts than large companies’ own R&D departments.” Herman Derache even states that the added value added to the Belgian economy by the companies using his services is multiplied by 5 compared to the average. Sirris plans to recruit around twenty additional experts in 2024.
File | Artificial intelligence and ChatGPT
The summary
- Sirris actions as a research and development department for companies, aim to accelerate the introduction of new technologyespecially among small and medium-sized enterprises in industry.
- Leave structure wants to increase its effect and investing in its laboratories and generative AI to help the Belgian technology industry.
- Sirris plans to invest 5.5 million euros, including 4 million in new industrial test environments and 1.5 million in generative artificial intelligence this year.
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