News

11 May 2021

The AI-CUBE project is conducting a 2-year European-wide survey of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data (BD) technologies and their level of deployment in the SPIRE process industries. It uses as a key conceptual reference, a CUBE with three dimensions representing the sectors, processes and technologies to be evaluated.

AI-CUBE has just concluded the activities of Work Package 1, “Current landscape analysis: AI & BD technologies and industry applications”. In this WP, coordinated by  IRIS, the Consortium explored the state of the art of digital technologies in the Process Industries from different points of view: the academic research conducted up to now concerning AI and BD technologies in the SPIRE Process Industries, and a sectoral analysis of the industrial processes in Europe. Finally, the Consortium conducted a review and update of the identified macro applications areas for digital technologies in the process industry sectors.

In the first step, AI-CUBE aimed at investigating existing literature to achieve an overall picture of AI and BD technologies and their degree of development and deployment in the SPIRE process industries. The second step, consisted in generating a summary of the most relevant industrial processes per process industry sector in Europe, highlighting major challenges where AI and BD could play a relevant role. Finally, the consortium created a report of synthesis of the sectorial analysis of AI/BD technologies and industrial processes in Europe, which identifies the sectors/processes/technologies which are most active and those which are least. This report defines all the dimensions, macro-areas etc. that will guide the AI-CUBE Project through the identification of best practices, potential opportunities, etc.

The key result of the WP1 activities has resulted in an updated CUBE design, represented in the following figure:

From the figure can be seen the three dimensions of the AI-CUBE: sectors (fixed, SPIRE), processes (adapted for the project) and technologies (a specific taxonomy was developed adapted for the project). The globes inside the 3-D cube space, represent the size/importance of the corresponding technology/sector/process.

This document will provide input for Work Packages 2 and 3. WP2 “Industry consultation and AI&BD framework for maturity level”, for which activities have already started, will take the CUBE concept as a guide to design a Maturity Level Model and analyse the impact of AI and BD technologies in the process industries. WP3 “Mapping of AI & BD technologies and maturity level assessment”, will use the CUBE and its dimensions as a foundation to run the assessment of the AI&BD application maturity level for companies operating in the process industry, and explore the cross-sector transferability of those technologies.

The mentioned reports will soon be available online and will be accessible through the Deliverables section of the AI-CUBE website. Keep following our activities to be updated on the results of the project and get in contact with us to contribute to our work and become a protagonist of the digital transformation of the European Process Industry!