Strategic Positioning under the European Partnership of AI, Data and Robotics

NORCE is actively involved in the AI, Data and Robotics Association (Adra, ASBL) - the private side of the European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics, one of the European Partnerships in Cluster 4 in Horizon Europe. Nabil Belbachir, research Director at NORCE is engaged in Adra activities since its foundation and is one of the three key people in the “ADRA task force” with the mandate to update the ADRA SRIDA (Strategic Research, Innovation and Deployment Agenda ) as input to European Commission strategy and roadmap for the work programme 2025-2027 of Horizon Europe. Currently, there is a raising protectionism in Europe, due to the actual crises and conflicts in the world. There is a recent impression that countries who are not member of the European Union (like Norway) are not always invited to contribute to setup the agenda and roadmap for the future work programmes. Therefore, Norway has to raise its level of strategic positioning activities and mobilize the key people in the countries to be part of the key arenas for building works programmes of the different Horizon Europe cluster. NORCE is asking for funding this proposal to strengthen the on-going work of Nabil Belbachir in providing inputs and defend Norway interests to the strategic orientation for work programme 2026 and 2027. Nabil Belbachir will use this support to mobilize key actors in Norway (especially industries) as a door opener for recommendations on key high-impact sectors for the AI, Data, and Robotics technologies, relevant to our businesses and society. Ultimately, the collective effort from Norway aims at influencing future priorities to come, setting and consolidating the right networks, increasing Norway participation in future Horizon Europe calls under ADRA partnership, and also increasing success rates.