A solid foundation for cooperation
With the letter of intent signed by Prof. Dr. Clemens Bulitta, President of OTH Amberg-Weiden, and Dr. Holger Pfeifer and Thomas Vallon, both directors at the Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria for Software-intensive Systems, the two partners are now charting a common path.
“Applied research and transfer of the results into practical applications are a central task at fortiss GmbH, which we want to accelerate with our scientists in the key area of artificial intelligence and together with OTH. This will allow us to safeguard the innovation capabilities of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bavaria in this groundbreaking field of technology,” says Dr. Holger Pfeifer, Scientific Director at fortiss GmbH.
OTH Amberg-Weiden also brings the best qualifications in the field of artificial intelligence to the collaboration. Over the past few years, OTH has significantly expanded its course offerings in the area of digitalization within the framework of the Digital Campus Center of Competence and greatly expanded its cooperation with companies and institutes in the field of Industry 4.0.
Dr. Stefan Wimbauer, head of the Applied Research and Cluster Policies department at the center, also attended the signing. In his welcome address, he underscored the economic significance of the cooperation for Bavaria as a key location for innovation.
Funding through the Bavarian government
The collaboration will occur within the framework of Denkwelt Oberpfalz, an innovation cluster in Bavaria’s Upper Palatinate region, where the activities will be carried out in the area of AI research and development, and knowledge and technology transfer.
The project, which will be funded by the Free State of Bavaria, is strategically important for the Upper Palatinate region. The goal is to help shape the digital transformation, particularly for SMEs, and thus expand the region as a business location. The Lars und Christian Engel Foundation (LUCE), with its headquarters in Weiherhammer in Upper Palatinate, is taking on this task in concert with scientific institutes and government organizations.
OTH Amberg-Weiden and the LUCE Foundation are already collaborating on a project focused on artificial intelligence in industrial production environments. In the future, OTH Amberg-Weiden and fortiss also want to work together more closely in the field of artificial intelligence and within the Denkwelt Oberpfalz innovation cluster.
The activities will include joint AI-related research projects and research groups that will be defined within various use cases such as intelligent production and robust AI. Both OTH Amberg-Weiden and fortiss boast application-based demonstrators in the field of artificial intelligence, with plans to conduct workshops, symposiums and research forums and to support prototyping sessions with external partners.
