Call for R&D projects AI 4 COVID-19: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) opens applications for the Call for R&D projects "AI 4 COVID-19: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration" on March 31st .

This is the 3rd edition of a program of annual Calls aimed at research in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence applied to Public Administration, which this year is exclusively focused on data processing in the context of the current pandemic of the new coronavirus SARS CoV2 and the COVID-19 disease and in the context of the situation of growing uncertainty and social alarm in which we live.

The aim of Call AI 4 COVID-19 is to support scientific research and technological development (IC&DT) projects and initiatives that can contribute to responses to this and future pandemics through data science and artificial intelligence, developed in partnership between the public administration and R&D institutions, with an emphasis on supporting citizens and healthcare services and entities.

Advances in computing techniques and artificial intelligence make it possible to analyze different sets of microdata in increasingly complex ways, combining them to extract knowledge that was previously inaccessible. The scientific community is key to developing a public administration model based on advanced analysis methods that allow the full potential of existing data to be harnessed.

This Call complements the line of support recently launched by FCT "Research 4 Covid-19" to support R&D activities geared towards immediate applications to combat Covid 19, and is now specifically focused on stimulating the development of data processing forms and systems.

Projects can last between 24 and 36 months, with funding of up to 240,000 euros per project. The allocation for this line of funding now launched will be 3 million euros.

All the information about the application process for this new Call AI 4 COVID-19 is available on this page and applications will be open from March 31 to May 28, 2020.

FCT recently produced a brochure presenting the IC&DT projects under the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Research Calls program, for the 2018 and 2019 editions, which can be consulted here. In these editions, 28 projects were approved for funding, on topics as diverse as health, public transport, water management or the use of data from the European Space Agency's IPSentinel system. This program is part of the e.2030 National Digital Competences Initiative (Portugal INCoDe.2030) with a total budget of €10 million.