They are finalists in AI Swedish of the Year 2020

AI
It is now clear which five candidates the jury for AI Swedish of the Year thinks have contributed most to the development and visibility of Swedish AI. The nominees are Amy Loutfi, Göran Lindsjö, Markus Lingman, Martin Svensson and Virginia Dignum.

The AI Swede of the Year is awarded by IT&Telekomföretagen together with its partner Teknikföretagen and aims to promote efforts, commitment and work in AI that lead to moving Swedish AI forward. The jury has consisted of a wide range of carefully selected experts in digitization from the public sector, academia and business, including Louise Callenberg, Head of Digital Collaboration and Renewal at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR):

- 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 people need to lead the way. It's about being a role model for others and inspiring more people to take the step and use AI to benefit more people," says Louise about the award and this year's nominees.


The jury's motivation:
Amy Loutfi, Professor, Department of Science and Technology, Örebro University
Motivation:
Sometimes the gap between deep AI expertise and how we can make AI contribute to society in a responsible way can seem large, but Amy Loutfi shows that it can be bridged. With commitment and generosity, she spreads knowledge and insights in a wide range of contexts, including WASP, AI Sweden, the Omstart Commission and the government's collaboration program. With her contribution in AI research, application, education and societal issues, Amy is and will be a key person and catalyst for Swedish AI.

Göran Lindsjö, AI Advisor, Governo
Motivation:
In all technological leaps, individuals are needed to act as a bridge between different actors in society and Göran Lindsjö is one of these special individuals. He has tirelessly missioned and shown the possibilities of AI in our society through hundreds of lectures, analyzes, trainings and been a driving opinion leader. In addition, he has also been a leading figure in the AI initiative created by the tech industry to help at the start of the corona crisis.

Markus Lingman, Chief Physician and Development Strategist, Region Halland
Motivation:
Focusing on the benefits for the individual, Markus Lingman has shown great implementation capacity, perseverance, courage and commitment through his exceptional work in combining the needs of healthcare with the possibilities of technology. By practicing information-driven care in Region Halland, he has shown how the ability to communicate and collaborate is the key to a well-functioning ecosystem of AI technology and data to achieve societal and individual benefits. Markus possesses an ability to make the complex understandable and with that made the technology accessible and decision makers confident in supporting projects that have the potential to redraw how care is practiced and implemented globally.

Martin Svensson, co-director, AI Sweden
Motivation:
Martin Svensson has tirelessly and committedly built a broad national network in Sweden within AI that has made lessons learned, data, expertise and collaboration available. With perseverance and strength, Martin has greatly expanded the Swedish AI ecosystem in a way that is characterized by participation, clarity and particularly good results.

Virginia Dignum, Professor, Department of Computer Science, Umeå University
Motivation:
With great commitment and a solid foundation, Virginia Dignum has made the world realize the importance of responsible AI. To realize the visions and broaden the view of AI, she has been given the responsibility to build the national research program WASP Humanity and Society. Thanks to Virginia, Sweden has been seriously put on the international map when it comes to developing the AI solutions of the future in a responsible and ethical way.

The winner will be announced at AI SUMMIT 2020 on Nov 11.