Artificial intelligence can only create real value when research findings are successfully translated into business practice.
Next_KARL explores innovative ways of bridging the gap between research and industry. The project develops and evaluates new knowledge transfer approaches that make the results of work and labour research easy to discover, intuitive to explore, and straightforward to apply in real-world business environments. By combining AI-powered knowledge services, intelligent expert matching, and hands-on demonstrators, Next_KARL enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to confidently adopt human-centred AI solutions while strengthening their long-term innovation capacity.
Despite the growing potential of artificial intelligence, many organisations still face significant barriers to its adoption. Limited time, scarce resources, and a lack of practical guidance often prevent research findings from becoming real-world solutions. This is where Next_KARL comes in. Building on the achievements of the regional competence centre KARL, the project develops new approaches that make knowledge and technology transfer more effective, accessible, and sustainable.
At the heart of Next_KARL are digital, interactive services that help organisations turn research into action. These include an AI-powered chatbot, a continuously evolving knowledge base, intelligent expert matching that connects business needs with the right expertise, and interactive learning formats that enable companies to assess and strengthen their AI capabilities. A demonstrator showcasing an AI assistant for incident management in public transport brings these concepts to life and illustrates their practical value.
All solutions are co-designed and validated together with industry partners to ensure they address real-world challenges. In parallel, the established "KI Connect" event series will be expanded to foster lasting exchange between research, industry, and society. While rooted in the results of KARL, the concepts developed in Next_KARL are designed to be transferable to a wide range of knowledge and technology transfer scenarios, helping accelerate innovation and support organisations on their journey towards successful, human-centred digital transformation.
Within Next_KARL, FZI Research Center for Information Technology develops an AI-powered transfer infrastructure that connects research outcomes with practical implementation in SMEs. The solution combines a trustworthy AI chatbot with automated knowledge updates and semantic expert matching. Together, these components provide reliable access to the latest KARL results, continuously integrate new research findings, and connect companies with the most suitable regional transfer partners through transparent, explainable recommendations. By integrating trustworthy AI, continuously evolving knowledge, and semantic partner matching, Next_KARL delivers transferable building blocks for modern knowledge and technology transfer that can be applied well beyond the KARL ecosystem.
