Joint Research Centre (JRC) 2023 Highlights Report

• April 25, 2024
• admin

The 2023 Highlights Report provides examples on how the Joint Research Centre has impacted the European society. A prominent focus is given to quotes from relevant partners, such as the Head of the AI Unit at the OECD or the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, showcasing how they collaborated with the JRC.

The report brings forward 11 examples in different sectors. Among these the most noteworthy are the securing of critical raw materials, the fight against disinformation and the support to the EU in shaping the digital market. 

Concerning critical raw materials, the JRC raised awareness on the necessity of action from the Commission’s side through science-policy briefings and provided scientific evidence that helped shape the proposal for the Critical Raw Materials Act in the report ’Supply chain analysis and material demand forecast in strategic technologies and sectors in the EU – a foresight study’.

In  the fight against disinformation, the JRC analyzed over 1 million text items to find common narratives and to provide policymakers with a clear understanding of the situation. This analysis went from topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change, political elections and the war in Ukraine.

Finally, on the digital side, the JRC has been instrumental in contributing empirical evidence to the impact assessment of the Digital Market Act but also in providing studies and reports to base the Act on. Moreover, in the future the JRC will support the enforcement of the Act.

Concerning the JRC involvement in the Digital Services Act, the Centre worked with Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology to prepare scientific and technical data. Finally, the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT), a new branch of the JRC instituted to support the Commission in the supervision and enforcement of the DSA, has been researching the long-running impact of algorithmic system to inform policy-making. 

Furthermore, the JRC has collaborated with the OECD to establish a framework for the classification and definition of AI system and the ECAT will continue to collaborate with AI unit to harness the potential of AI and mitigate the risks that come with it.

As a complete overview, the 11 sections are:

• Critical raw materials

• Energy Security

• Digital

• Strategic Foresight

• International Partnership

• Nuclear Excellence

• Emergency Response

• Climate Neutrality

• Food Fraud

• Biodiversity

• Disinformation