Virginia Dignum finalist for the AI Swede of the year award

Professor in Responsible Artificial Intelligence,at the Department of Computing Science.

ImageMattias Pettersson

The award the AI Swede of the year is a newly established prize that goes to a person who contributes to the development and visibility of Swedish AI. The winner will be presented at AI SUMMIT on 11 November.

The prize is awarded by IT & Telekomföretagen together with partner Teknikföretagen.

Professor Virginia Dignum, one of the 5 finalists, is nominated by the jury for her great commitment having the world realize the importance of responsible AI.

During the last year she has been a program director for the national research program The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program - Humanities and Society (WASP-HS).

"Thanks to Virginia, Sweden has taken a place on the international map when it comes to developing the AI ​​solutions of the future in a responsible and ethical way," the jury continues.

The jury has consisted of a breadth of carefully selected experts in digitization from the public sector, academia and business, including Louise Callenberg, Head of digital collaboration and renewal at Sweden's Municipalities and Regions (SKR):

“When something is new, it takes courage to break habits and pave the way. In Sweden, we need to apply more AI and to do that, some need to go ahead and show the way. It is about being a role model for others and inspiring more people to take the step and benefit more from AI,” says Louise Callenberg about the award and this year's nominees.

Also one more of the five nominees is connected to Umeå University. It is Amy Loutfi, Professor at Örebro University, who is also a board member of Umeå University.

The other three nominees are

Göran Lindsjö, AI Advisor, Governo,

Markus Lingman, chief physician and development strategist, Region Halland

Martin Svensson, co-director, AI Sweden

The winner of AI Swedish of the Year will be presented at AI SUMMIT 2020 on 11 November.