“ZF AI & Cybersecurity Center” launched at SIC

This week, ZF Friedrichshafen AG opened a new research center at the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC). In the “ZF AI & Cybersecurity Center”, the global automotive supplier intends to research how artificial intelligence can be used profitably in the automotive industry.

Present at the opening ceremony were Wolf-Henning Scheider, ZF CEO; Tobias Hans, Minister-President of Saarland; Professor Jana Koehler, Director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI); Professor Michael Backes, Director of the Helmholtz Center for Information Security (CISPA); and Professor Sebastian Hack, currently Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Scheider explained the decision of the ZF Group to locate its research center at the SIC to the Saarbrücker Zeitung: “The highly qualified persons we need will be trained right here on site.” DFKI director Jana Koehler confirmed this. “We have a great university here, and great institutes,” said the computer science professor, who had previously worked at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and at IBM Research Zurich.

The Saarbrücker Zeitung commented on the new technology center at SIC as follows: “The new ZF Research Center is a great asset for Saarland. This is the first time that it has been possible to see clearly what prospects – including economic ones – the Helmholtz Center for Information Security offers in connection with the DFKI and the university’s computer science research.” /gb