Release from
Around 90 pupils, AI experts, start-ups and representatives from the worlds of research, funding and public administration gathered today at the “Next Generation AI – Young Talents of the BWKI Competition” event at the AI Factory in Vienna. The focus was on winners and project teams from previous years’ Federal Competition for Artificial Intelligence (BWKI), classes from the “AI Schools of the Year”, and a direct exchange with Federal Minister Peter Hanke.
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 through workshops, speed-dating sessions, start-up advice and brief patent consultations. Thematically, the projects presented 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, Innovation Minister Peter Hanke emphasised that artificial intelligence has become indispensable today and that young people must develop a bold, responsible approach to this technology. He said that dialogue with researchers, 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 goal he believes can only be achieved with the help of tech-savvy groups and strong networks.
|
“What we have seen today shows that AI expertise emerges where young people combine curiosity with 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 transformed 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 entries 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 and makes 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 Model Context Protocol, compliance and cybersecurity | Analyses meeting minutes and evidence against company guidelines, operates locally/on-premise and was presented with 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 apply their knowledge. 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 leading 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 starting a business: 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 talks on starting a business, funding and an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session with AWS, FFG, sz.Digital, EYYES and other experts. AI:AT provided the venues and discussion formats for this, deliberately bringing the students 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. In addition to methodology and technical quality, the projects are assessed on their economic potential, societal benefits and ethical dimensions.
The 2025 competition took place for the fifth time; over 100 registered participants take part each year, and in 2025 seven teams reached the final and four projects were awarded prizes. There is also the 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 managed 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, 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, exchange formats and services. As a market-neutral, independent access point, AI:AT supports organisations from industry, 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 Austria (BMIMI/FFG).