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In June 2020, SAFER started up a strategic initiative to build competence on how AI can be used as a tool, partly to facilitate and improve our research, but also to create solutions in the traffic environment that contribute to increased safety for road users. In parallel with the activities in SAFER’s AI stakeholder groups, Drive Sweden and AI Sweden started a project, AI Driven Mobility, with the goal to create a network of mobility and AI experts to establish a project portfolio to accelerate the use of AI in the mobility area for people and goods. SAFER has been leading the traffic safety focus group within this programme. We have in these two groups identified that AI has a great potential to enhance our research in many ways and we have a strong engagement and interest from the partners to continue this work. From these initiatives several project ideas have been generated and both pre-studies and projects have started. The project AI Driven Mobility will continue in a second phase, 2022-2024, and SAFER partners are invited to join.

THE NEXT PHASE OF AI DRIVEN MOBILITY 
The second phase of the project will consist of two closely connected building blocks; sub-groups for specific mobility areas, e.g. traffic safety, that SAFER will lead, and a closely connected competence programme. The extension of the strategic project AI Driven Mobility focuses on bridging the knowledge gap that exists between needs owners and AI experts by giving organizations and individuals representing different parts of society access to a unique competence programme and focus groups for project generation in AI for the mobility sector.

THE FOCUS GROUP FOR AI IN TRAFFIC SAFETY
In the focus group for AI in traffic safety, we will continue to work on finding opportunities in using AI as a tool in our research and for improved road safety. Our joint objectives are to identify funding opportunities, generate pre-studies and start up larger projects, create and maintain our network and also to connect to other relevant initiatives and spread the results from the projects. We plan to meet 5-6 times per year and start up about 3-5 pre-studies per year. To join the focus group and competence program does not require formal in-kind commitment from the partners, only engagement, willingness to contribute to the dialogue, share and build common knowledge and to contribute to the project creation process. We aim to write separate project agreements for the pre-studies, and later also for the projects that the group generates.

THE COMPETENCE PROGRAMME
The competence programme, now being formed, has the overall idea to continue to strengthen the competence of using AI in the mobility sector and the knowledge sharing between partners, projects generation, and activities to recognize opportunities. In the competence program international best practice and leading examples will be monitored and communicated and we aim to establish relationship with leading international environments. Also, monitoring ongoing initiatives and results in this field to support development of projects, dissemination of results with the aim to generate further research and innovation are included in the scope of work.
 
The competence program will preliminary consists of four learning modules: 
•    AI for Sustainable Mobility
•    Data sharing for insight driven mobility 
•    AI for Safe Mobility
•    AI and mobility in EU

For each learning module international experts, organizations and city or region representatives will be invited to inspire and increase knowledge, leading hopefully to new initiatives and collaborations. In addition to the learning modules, there will also be network events. The network events will serve as a platform for presenting and disseminating results from ongoing initiatives in the Swedish mobility system, and is an arena for collaboration, where AI-experts, mobility-experts and need owners come together to create new ideas, and initiate collaboration. 

Are you a SAFER-partner, interested in engaging in this initiative, welcome to contact Malin Levin (malin.levin@chalmers.se).