For one week, the AI for Sustainability Institute at ESSCA brought together student talent to tackle a significant challenge: devising innovative AI-driven solutions to address the pressing issues of smart and sustainable cities. This initiative was part of the broader European alliance, EUonAIR.
What is the European alliance EUonAIR?
The European alliance EUonAIR stands for European University on AI in Curricula, Smart UniverCity and (Return) Mobility. This initiative brings together higher education institutions with the aim of creating a new collaborative and responsible education model based on artificial intelligence (AI).
The alliance seeks to revolutionise learning, research, and working methods to meet the current and future needs of educational systems and broader ecosystems.
Key aspects include developing a virtual campus called MyAI and creating innovative solutions to promote AI-based education and support open research and innovation. The project also involves collaboration with cities to develop smart and eco-friendly solutions.
The EUonAIR Hackathon
The teams rose to the challenge. French participants from ESSCA proposed concrete solutions tailored to the local issues of the French cities of Angers and Boulogne-Billancourt. International students from partner universities presented proposals suited to their own regions.
Ten projects were showcased, and four prizes were awarded by a panel of experts, including:
- Élisabeth de Maistre, Member of Parliament for Hauts-de-Seine
- Sandy Vétillart and Emmanuelle Cornet-Ricquebourg, Deputy Mayors of Boulogne-Billancourt
- Pierre-Yves Jourdan, Angers Loire Development
- Raphaël Vienne, Head of AI at Datacraft
- Representatives from ESSCA, ESSCA Junior Conseil, and the EUonAIR team
Spotlight on the Winners
- Optimising open data to strategically position infrastructure in Angers (France)
- Converting electric vehicles into mobile energy sources, allowing unused battery power to be fed back into the grid
- An AI-powered waste traceability system to promote urban circularity
- Optimising public transport in Boulogne-Billancourt (France)
Congratulations to all participants and many thanks to our partners: the cities of Angers and Boulogne-Billancourt, Member of Parliament Élisabeth de Maistre, Datacraft, ESSCA Junior Conseil, and the AI for Sustainability Institute.
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