Malta launches AI research fund

The government of Malta has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Fund dedicated to supporting capacity building efforts related to AI research in the country. The grant is aimed to encourage (a) increased capacity for AI research; (b) increased investment in AI research and development activities; (c) increased adoption of AI technologies by public and private actors; and (d) increased collaboration between academia and the private sector. An overall amount of €125,000 is available to support ‘research projects through which AI can be applied to create new systems, which can then be employed by the public and the private sector, and which will improve the efficiency, transparency, and interaction with citizens’, according to Minister for the Economy and Industry Silvio Schembri.