The Horizon Europe-funded FORGE-AI project officially launched with a two-day kick-off meeting held in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 3–4, 2025. The event brought together all project partners from Georgia, Armenia and the EU to initiate collaboration, align on strategic objectives and define the next steps for implementation. Hosted by Georgian Technical University (GTU)/MICM, the meeting marked the formal start of FORGE-AI (FOsteRing innovation culture for a new generation of GEorgian AI research community). a three-year initiative aimed at strengthening Georgia’s AI research capabilities and integrating them more closely with the European research ecosystem.

Representatives from all partner institutions, including the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarland University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), Georgian AI Association (GAIA), YerevaNN Research Lab and others, participated in the launch. Each organization presented its role, expertise and planned contributions to the project.

Over the two days, partners reviewed the project work plan in detail, discussed upcoming deliverables and set a shared strategic vision. Key topics included the international secondment program, cross-sector collaboration strategies and the development of a knowledge-sharing platform to support Georgian AI researchers. The kick-off also served as an opportunity to build alignment on project values and long-term impact goals, with an emphasis on sustainable policy change, capacity-building, and creating better career pathways for young AI researchers in Georgia and Armenia.

As the project begins implementation, the FORGE-AI consortium looks forward to working closely across borders and sectors to help shape a more connected, skilled, and innovative AI research community in the region.