EIT: Europe's AI-on-demand platform powers research and innovation

The European AI ecosystem takes a decisive leap forward with the launch of the newly expanded AI-on-Demand Platform (AIoD) - a single, trusted digital access point that brings together the best of Europe’s AI tools, datasets, and services for both research and industry. 

Developed through the EU-funded AI4Europe and DeployAI projects, with the involvement of EIT Digital as a key partner in both projects, the AIoD embodies Europe’s vision to consolidate fragmented AI resources into a unified infrastructure. It is a cornerstone of the EU’s strategy to accelerate AI innovation, strengthen technological sovereignty, and uphold European values of trust, transparency, and responsibility.

"The AI-on-Demand Platform exemplifies Europe’s commitment to building an innovation ecosystem where research excellence translates into real-world impact. At EIT Digital, we are proud to help drive this collaborative effort, ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of trustworthy AI while creating opportunities for our businesses and citizens" said Federico Menna, CEO of EIT Digital

A Strategic Gateway for Europe’s Research and Industry

The AI-on-Demand Platform is designed with a dual-track system that directly serves the distinct needs of Europe’s research community and its businesses. 

For researchers and innovators, the platform offers an extensive repository of over 500,000 AI assets-including datasets, tools, and software-accessible through intuitive services like the Metadata Catalogue, AI Catalogue, and the Research and Innovation AI Lab (RAIL). This fosters collaboration, reuse, and the seamless transfer of publicly funded research into practical applications. Crucially, it also acts as a mechanism for technology transfer, supporting the seamless journey from laboratory prototypes to real-world solutions. 

For industry, including SMEs, startups, and the public sector, the platform delivers market-ready AI solutions and robust support across the entire innovation lifecycle. From low-code development tools and HPC training resources to secure European hosting environments and a dedicated AI marketplace, businesses can develop, train, and deploy trustworthy AI aligned with EU regulations and standards.

With tools like the Metadata Catalogue for unified searches, the AI Catalogue for resource organisation, and the Research and Innovation AI Lab (RAIL) for collaborative AI research, the platform empowers users at every stage of AI development. The AI Builder simplifies complex tasks, while the upcoming Success Stories service will connect users to experts, providing practical insights from real-world applications. The platform also features the EU AI Ecosystem Mapping tool for collaboration, Eurocore, a European repository for robotics, and RoboCompass, which guides responsible innovation in robotics. All tools are integrated with secure, single sign-on access. 

The platform itself is delivered under two complementary European Commission programmes. AI4Europe, launched in 2022 under Horizon Europe and led by University College Cork, focuses on expanding the AIoD’s capabilities to support research excellence, and will run through to the end of 2025. DeployAI, initiated in 2024 under the Digital Europe Programme and coordinated by Fraunhofer IAIS, extends these foundations by delivering industry-ready solutions and will continue until 2027. 

EIT Digital, building on its expertise in the sector as coordinator of the EIT AI Community, plays a role across both projects, contributing its extensive know how in digital innovation to make sure that the platform not only serves immediate technological needs but also fosters a long-term, sustainable European AI landscape.

This article was first published on 22 July by the EIT.