Elite Czech AI club: national centre for artificial intelligence launches its activities

The National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCUI) has been established in the Czech Republic, bringing together cutting-edge research and real-world applications with the ambition to accelerate the deployment of AI across key sectors. Supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR), the project unites dozens of partners from academia, industry, and the public sector. Brno University of Technology (BUT) is represented in this “elite Czech AI club” by the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT BUT) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication (FEEC BUT), which participates through the Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Control and Instrumentation.

The ambitious project was officially launched on April 22 at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CIIRC CTU). It focuses on developing practical solutions with impact in industry, healthcare, energy, and transportation. The project succeeded in the SIGMA programme of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR), ranking among four selected proposals out of nineteen, with a total budget exceeding CZK 500 million. It aims to deliver dozens of tangible outputs, ranging from digital twins to advanced AI algorithms. The consortium includes six technical universities, including BUT, along with numerous industry and public sector partners.

FEEC as part of a strong consortium

The involvement of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication (FEEC BUT) is largely driven by the activities of its researchers, particularly Radim Burget. FEEC contributes to the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCUI) through two departments – the Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Control and Instrumentation.

Radim Burget from the Department of Telecommunications, FEEC BUT. | Photo: Jan Prokopius

FEEC is involved in solving specific application-oriented tasks in collaboration with industrial partners, such as Yunex. Radim Burget explains:

“Our goal within NCUI is not only to develop theoretical models, but above all to deliver practical and highly reliable outputs that can be immediately applied in industry. We focus on a new generation of systems that address the shortcomings of current AI, such as susceptibility to hallucinations, while placing maximum emphasis on safety and understanding complex contexts. In the field of image processing, we are pushing the boundaries to an entirely new level, enabling machines to better understand relationships and provide not only attractive but, above all, reliable results.”

The nature of the project is well summarized by Jan Černocký from FIT BUT, who oversees the project at the university level:

“It is essentially an elite club of Czech artificial intelligence, connecting top university laboratories with companies that want to work intensively with AI.”

AI faster, safer, and with real impact

One of the key benefits of NCUI is its strong focus on practical application. Research is carried out in close collaboration with industry, enabling rapid validation and deployment in real-world environments. The aim is to deliver solutions that directly strengthen the competitiveness of the Czech economy.

At the same time, the project emphasizes safety, ethics, and social responsibility in the use of artificial intelligence, while also contributing to informed decision-making in the public sector.

 

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