SEMIC conference 2023 recap: Navigating ‘Interoperable Europe in the
age of AI’
On Wednesday, October 18th, the Semantic Interoperability (SEMIC)
conference [https://semic2023.eu/] took place in Madrid, Spain. The
event was hosted by the European Commission, in collaboration with the
newly inaugurated Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European
Union [https://spanish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/]. This
year’s edition revolved around the theme 'Interoperable Europe in
the Age of AI'. A diverse gathering of professionals from the public,
private, and academic sectors convened to exchange knowledge and
engage in various discussions throughout the day.

Under the banner of 'Interoperable Europe in the Age of AI', the
conference provided a platform for in-depth discussions on recent
advancements and the synergy between interoperability, semantics, and
artificial intelligence. Several sessions were dedicated to exploring
AI, reliable and qualitative data, the concept of law as a code, the
linkage of data spaces, and the automation of public services.
Additionally, the event included the unveiling of the latest
developments regarding the Interoperable Europe Act Commission
Proposal. 

One of the speakers was Franck Noël, director for Data, Information
and Knowledge Management services of the Publications Office of the
European Union. At the conference, Franck Noël explained that the
Publications Office is embracing artificial intelligence and
interoperability topics. Lately, the office has invested in chatbot
technologies to provide a natural language interface to increase
services’ accessibility and a more intuitive information access.
Noël addressed that the way information can be accessed, is rapidly
changing. Keeping in mind the risks that come along with AI, he
emphasized that, as a public services provider, the Publications
Office must be very clear about how AI is used to ensure trustworthy
services for all stakeholders. Noël concluded his presentation by
addressing that currently, the biggest challenge lies in finding the
right balance in AI technologies and human supervision. 

For data.europa.eu, participating to events such as the SEMIC
conference is instrumental in two different ways. Firstly, the
conference’s stage is one more channel through which the initiative
meets its audience, and can extend it further, to citizens and
businesses that may not have yet had the opportunity to learn about
open data. Secondly, it is an opportunity to connect with
representatives of other EU programmes and officers, to ideate
formulas to work together and create more value for Europe.

If you are interested in Franck Noël’s presentation, please find
the recording here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8b-EFniQo]. 

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Publication Date/Time
2023-11-03T09:00:00+00:00
Explore the key highlights of SEMIC conference 2023