The Green Transformation

New technologies and solutions will be an extremely valuable asset to boost sustainable foundations in business and society and to support the much-needed global green transformation. AI can play a key role in various areas of business development, such as analysis, prediction models, decision support, fraud detection, image recognition, supply chain optimization, language support, streamlining and optimization of consumption, circular economy, models for reducing waste and pollution, improving business models and modernize infrastructure. This applies to many industries like ocean technologies, seafood, health care, finance, media, real estate, tourism, maritime, retail and e-commerce, process automation, manufacturing, logistics, and so on, as well as the public sector.

The need for speed

AI adoption is still overall low in society, and the technology is still new, but that is about to change. The potential that lies in applying AI into business and society is profound. The Norwegian Cognitive Center aims to speed up this transformation by offering tools, competence and methodology and at the same time highlight and safeguard the development of technology ethics and responsibility. The Center provide services complementary to both academic research, consultancies and established commercial products on any platform.

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Collaboration as a business model

The Norwegian Cognitive Center is a strong industry cross over initiative to build Norway as a powerful European hub for applied AI, and to attract world leading expertise. A wide range of robust industries, entrepreneurship, solid and relevant academic research environments and a forward-leaning public sector lay the foundation for the joint initiatives. Fueled by collaboration and cooperation the Center offers a shared competence across sectors and industries, unique in a European Context.

National consortium

The consortium comprises several industry clusters, representing hundreds of companies, many of them global leaders in their fields. The Center was initiated through the close collaboration between IBM and our sister-cluster NCE Media, with IBM also being a partner in the Media City Bergen Media Lab. It is the complete and full ecosystem with solid industry clusters, a strong academic environment, and a forward leaning public sector that makes the Norwegian West Coast region particularly attractive and suitable for such a center.

IBM is chosen as the technology partner. Norwegian Cognitive Center is owned by GCE Ocean Technology, NCE Media, NCE Seafood Innovation, NCE Finance Innovation and Proptech Innovation, with Norce, Bergen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, NORA and the City of Bergen as key players. Also a part of this initiative is VIS Innovation, Helse Bergen, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) and NCE Maritime Cleantech.

Important for the Fintech ecosystem

- AI is already changing entire industries and it will have a profound impact on fintech. Human contribution will be augmented, upgraded but also replaced by algorithms. Companies have been spending a lot of time and resources on business processes with rule based logic e.g. when calculating credit risk and approving loans. Going forward, the ground work will increasingly be done by machines and human expertise will be focused on bringing a value adding perspective, says Atle Sivertsen, CEO of the Norwegian Fintech Cluster, NCE Finance Innovation.

- In my view, the AI revolution is not scary, it is not science fiction and it is not exaggerated. This will be a natural and permanent shift in productivity like the industrial revolution was not long ago, and the companies in NCE Finance Innovation will be looking to explore new opportunities and avoid potential threats in an open innovation ecosystem. The Cognitive Center is a key part in doing so and I am thrilled that so many companies have partnered up to make this a reality across sectors, says Atle Sivertsen, CEO of the Norwegian Fintech Cluster, NCE Finance Innovation.

Sivertsen is pleased that NCE Finance Innovation is part of the Norwegian Cognitive Center and is particularly interested in what AI can represent for the finance and tech industry that the cluster represents.

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