The young talents presented AI projects from the years 2023 to 2025, discussed the opportunities and limitations of artificial intelligence, and subsequently networked with experts, start-ups and funding bodies. The topics covered by the projects ranged from sign language on smartphones, autonomous driving and deepfake detection, through image processing, political transparency and medical documentation, to compliance and cybersecurity.
Federal Minister Hanke: “Shaping the future of AI with young people”
At the opening ceremony, Minister for Innovation Peter Hanke emphasised that artificial intelligence has become an integral part of our lives and that young people need to develop a bold yet responsible approach to this technology. He added that dialogue with research institutions, universities, businesses and funding bodies should help to turn school projects into new opportunities for further study, start-ups and practical applications. At the same time, Hanke referred to the Federal Government’s industrial strategy, which aims to make Austria one of the world’s leading economies by 2035 – a development which, in his view, can only succeed with groups enthusiastic about technology and strong networks.
|
“What we have seen today shows that AI expertise emerges where young people combine curiosity with a sense of responsibility. The BWKI highlights the potential that lies within Austria’s schools. With Next Generation AI, we are bringing these talents together with research, start-ups, funding bodies and the AI Factory Austria – so that ideas can be turned into opportunities for education, start-ups and the responsible application of AI.”
Minister for Innovation Peter Hanke
|
Project insights from BWKI talents and AI schools: school projects presented:
|
Project / Entry
|
Details
|
|
GestIQus
|
HTL Spengergasse | 1st place 2023 | Translates 3D finger positions from sign language into symbols, thereby enabling smartphone control via sign language; focus on inclusivity and digitalisation
|
|
AutoMinds / Faker
|
HTL Spengergasse | Projects 2023/2024 | AutoMinds: end-to-end solution for autonomous driving with a focus on European road and traffic data; Faker: deepfake detection for video streams and Teams calls with industry relevance
|
|
ProcessAeye
|
HTL Perg | 2nd place 2024 | Real-time image reconstruction and inpainting: combining traditional image processing with deep learning models to fill in image areas with high detail; demonstration of quality/speed trade-offs
|
|
Somes
|
Florian Nagy, HTL Hollabrunn | Open-source platform for political transparency; processes primary sources from the National Council, speeches and legislative texts using AI/LLMs, making political positions more accessible and understandable
|
|
MedCodeAssist
|
Teodora Radomirovic, Phillip Ostrega, Paul Totzauer and Timo Burgmann, HTL Spengergasse | 3rd place 2025 | AI-assisted text analysis to simplify medical documentation; structures doctors’ letters as International Patient Summaries and utilises standards such as HL7 FHIR and SNOMED CT
|
|
Gomply
|
Hannah Fluch and Harald Zumpf, HTL Spengergasse | current project on the Model Context Protocol, compliance and cybersecurity | Analyses, for example, meeting minutes and evidence against corporate guidelines, operates locally/on-premises and was presented using a use case from the banking and compliance sector
|
AI:AT connects young talent with infrastructure, expertise and an ecosystem
|
“The BWKI impressively demonstrates that AI expertise can develop at an early age when pupils are given the space to experiment, take responsibility and put their ideas into practice. As AI Factory Austria, we want to connect this energy with research, industry and public administration, and show young talent how good ideas can be turned into robust and trustworthy applications.”
Karl Kugler, Co-Lead, AI Factory Austria AI:AT
|
|
“Young AI talents need not only inspiration, but also access to infrastructure, expertise and networks. That is exactly what AI:AT is here for: we highlight the paths that lead from the initial idea towards a proof of concept, start-up or collaboration – whilst also demonstrating how responsible AI is developed in practice.”
Markus Stöhr, Co-Lead, AI Factory Austria AI:AT
|
From the AI Act to setting up a start-up: opportunities for young AI talent
Following the discussion with Federal Minister Hanke, a workshop on the EU AI Act and technological sovereignty took place with Michael Löffler and Simeon Harrison (AI:AT). Over lunch at the AI Factory Vienna, the programme included speed-dating sessions with Newsrooms.ai/TrendingTopics, Nukuki AI, sz.Digital and the FFG’s Young Talent Programme, as well as a brief patent consultation with DI Dirk Harms. The event concluded with presentations on start-up launch and funding, followed by an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session with AWS, FFG, sz.Digital, EYYES and other experts. AI:AT provided the venues and networking opportunities for the event and deliberately brought the pupils together with co-workers, start-ups, experts and funding organisations.
About the Austrian Federal Competition for Artificial Intelligence (BWKI)
The Austrian National Artificial Intelligence Competition (BWKI) is a competition for school pupils that inspires young people to take an interest in artificial intelligence and supports them in developing their own AI projects. The programme includes an online AI course, the project competition and the ‘AI School of the Year’ award. The competition is organised in Austria by the Austrian Society for Artificial Intelligence (ASAI) and supported by the BMIMI. Projects are assessed not only on their methodology and technical quality, but also on their economic potential, societal benefits and ethical dimensions.
The 2025 competition was held for the fifth time; over 100 registered participants take part each year. In 2025, seven teams reached the final and four projects received awards. There is also a special ‘AI for Green’ prize.
About AI Factory Austria AI:AT
AI Factory Austria AI:AT is Austria’s national AI Factory within the framework of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. It is jointly led by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and Advanced Computing Austria (ACA) and implemented by an Austria-wide consortium. The partners in the consortium are TU Wien, the University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), the University of Innsbruck, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), INiTS – Vienna’s High-Tech Incubator, and EODC – Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH. AI:AT combines AI-optimised high-performance infrastructure with a physical hub, training programmes, exchange platforms and services. As a market-neutral, independent access point, AI:AT supports organisations from the private sector, public administration and applied research throughout their AI journey, from the initial use case to practical implementation, and connects young talent at an early stage with research, start-ups, funding bodies and European networking opportunities.
Funding Acknowledgement
AI Factory Austria (AI:AT) is co-funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 101253078. The Joint Undertaking is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and by Austria (BMIMI/FFG).