2023 Wrap Up

As we wave goodbye to 2023, let’s take some time to wrap up the year! We have really enjoyed getting involved in some exciting projects this year, so let’s walk down memory lane: 

2023 kicked off with a proud moment: our French team received the Invest In Provence Award, a great recognition of our local work and collaborations within the French tech ecosystem over the past six years! Our regional manager, Juliette, shared some tidbits about our journey in Marseille during her interview with Provence Promotion. If you haven't seen it, check it out for some behind-the-scenes stories!

Across 2023, we had some great times hosting events, like the one at Vlerick Business School, where we dove into the challenges and opportunities of responsible AI, or our meetup at the Offbar, where we explored event-driven architectures. If you missed out, don't worry – you can catch the replays on our YouTube channel. Thank you to all the people who came to share experiences and insights!

Research has kept us busy, too. The team published papers on various AI topics: overall, eight publications covering topics from explainability in machine learning to innovative approaches for limiting biases and exploring synthetic graph generation. It’s pretty exciting to put our discoveries out there for others to use and build upon! Dive into the results on our research website – and let us know which paper intrigued you the most!

Speaking of being part of a larger conversation, let’s mention Eric’s time with the journalist Catarina Marques Rodrigues, MEP Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, Bianca Manelli (Digital Europe), and Daniela Braga (Defined.ai), participating in an AI Act panel at the heart of the European Parliament. This was an excellent opportunity to listen and engage with diverse viewpoints on how AI policy is shaping up in Europe. You will find the replay on the Defined.ai YouTube channel; it’s really a must-watch! 

Conference-wise, we organised two notable workshops in collaboration with IEEE, addressing the balance between AI's utility and data protection and exploring new frontiers in streaming tech. We also had a great time participating in conferences like the Kafka Summit, the Kubecon, PET Summit, WRL, or IEEE Big Data, learning from others in the industry and tech community. Click on the names to get the conferences insights!

The third edition of Novhack brought together 80 students from 15 universities and five countries who challenged themselves with a machine learning use case and real-world data. And guess what? The next edition is on the horizon, set for March 30-31. Stay tuned!

Talking about students, our work with universities like UPC, Ugent or ULille was all about bringing the academy and the industry together. We shared our field experiences, presented internships, and discussed GDPR compliance in AI with data science students. We also welcomed 11 interns who worked on projects from ethical AI to tumour segmentation, with 7 becoming full-time Euranovians! All in all, it was fantastic to meet the next generation of machine learning enthusiasts. Should you want to join the adventures, you will find here the internship offers for 2024. Do not hesitate to share it with your young network!

Mentioning Euranovians, 2023 saw 42 Newranovians joining the team, bringing new energy and ideas, and it’s been awesome to see them take their marks and contribute, from knowledge sharing sessions to Dungeons & Dragons nights, rock concerts to board game parties... Welcome aboard :)

We also made some internal strides, facilitating continuous learning and team connectivity. Happeo, our new digital HQ, help us streamline communication and information access. We also introduced a Learning & Development platform that offers customisable training and resources to grow in our areas of expertise. And we finally launched our new career development structure to provide clear growth pathways and support for every Euranovian's journey. We are looking forward to seeing these initiatives enrich our work, fostering innovation and collaboration!

Finally, the launch of the Belgian branch of the Elles Bougent initiative by our culture manager, Maryse, marked a step in promoting scientific careers among young women. This first year of activity has been rich with encounters, initiatives, and workshops to empower the next generation of women in tech and bring more diversity to STEM. The next big moment? Join us on 31 January at 6 pm at the after-work for the godmothers, relays, and Elles Bougent Belgium network. On the agenda : a review of the year, a 2024 action plan, and celebration time! It's also an occasion to learn more about the association, so don't hesitate and reach out to Maryse. 

Looking back on 2023, it’s been a journey filled with learning, teamwork, connecting, and growing, both within our team and alongside our clients and the tech ecosystem. Thank you to all our customers and partners who trust us to lead their industries and businesses forward with technologies. We look forward to what 2024 will bring!

Happy New Year!