It could be a nice April Fool’s joke if it weren’t true! On April 1, 2025, the Mařík Institute of Informatics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics (MICARC), named after Prof. Vladimír Mařík, founder and scientific director of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) of CTU, will be inaugurated in Jaipur, India. The institute was established at NIMS University. The opening of the institute is an example of the developing very promising cooperation between the Czech Republic and India based on scientific cooperation, exchange of knowledge and capacities using the potential of both countries. The inauguration of the Institute will be attended not only by the Czech delegation, but also by Indian officials, the Czech Ambassador to India Ms. Eliška Žigová and other distinguished guests.
HOW IT BEGAN
The MICARC (Marik Institute of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics) project was launched in 2023, when the foundation stone of a new scientific institution at the private NIMS University in Jaipur, the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan, was laid. Inspired by the successes of the CIIRC CTU and the vision of its founder Prof. Vladimir Mařík, the university wanted to create a similarly innovative science centre focused on artificial intelligence. CIIRC CTU, especially through the RICAIP Testbed Prague as a model infrastructure for Industry 4.0, provided methodological support in the construction of the centre and helped with the design of equipment that is compatible with artificial intelligence laboratories in the Czech Republic and Europe. RICAIP forms an interconnected network of testbeds in Prague, Brno and Saarbrücken, Germany, which further collaborate especially in the field of AI and Industry 4.0 with dozens of other labs and institutions in Europe.
During the visit of Prime Minister Petr Fiala to India in January 2024, the progress in building MICARC was presented at NIMS and a Memorandum of Cooperation between CIIRC CTU and NIMS was signed. The latter is already underway, among others, within the framework of the European Union-supported INPACE project, which promotes digital partnerships and deepens cooperation between Europe, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.
THE FUTURE OF COOPERATION
According to Prof. Vladimír Mařík, the opening of MICARC is an important step for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation: ‚We see it as opening the way for the Czech engineering community to India, which is very forward technologically and economically. We see this as a long-term investment that is in line with the European Union’s plans and the Czech Republic’s intentions to turn to this region.“ India, which invests massively in the development of artificial intelligence and has a long tradition of technical education, offers Czech and European universities and companies huge potential for collaboration and partnership. This journey can symbolically begin with the opening of the Mařík Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
NIMS AI-CON 2025 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (1 – 3 APRIL)
The opening of MICARC will also include the prestigious international conference NIMS AI-Con 2025, which will focus on applications of artificial intelligence in industry, medicine, biomedicine, smart cities and other areas. Invited speakers include:
- Ikuo Mizuuchi (Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan)
- Vladik Kreinovich (University of Texas EL Paso, USA)
- A Min Tjoa (Vienna University of Technology, Austria)
- Millie Pant (IIT Roorkee, India)
Representation of CIIRC CTU at the conference
- Vladimír Mařík
- Ondřej Velek
- Josef Šivic
- Jan Šedivý
- Olga Štěpánková
- Miroslav Svitek
- Karel Košnar
- Václav Hlaváč
- Pavel Burget
- Vít Dočkal
- Martin Macaš
- Petr Šamánek
Conference website and further information: https://nimsaicon.com
More about MICARC: https://www.nimsuniversity.org/nims-school-of-computing-and-artificial-intelligence/
MEDIA COVERAGE AND CONTACT
Detailed information about the opening ceremony, the AI-con 2025 conference and the significance of this project will be available to the media on 1 April 2025. For further information contact:
What the Indian media says about MICARC: HERE
