ECMWF, Atos Germany and Fraunhofer IAIS are working together to develop and implement a robust ethical machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy for Destination Earth that will ensure transparency and the compliance with the European regulatory framework regarding AI. The partnership will translate into a series of white papers marking clear guidelines present and future AI-related activities in DestinE.
The use of AI in weather and climate forecasts has seen rapid advances in the last years. The potential that AI offers are great but there are also concerns on ethical grounds and what it means to move away from established physical models. As a groundbreaking initiative in the use of AI, the European Unions’ Destination Earth initiative has awarded a contract to Atos Germany and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in October 2024 to develop a comprehensive framework for the ethical implementation of AI within the initiative and provide guidance for its users.
As part of this contract, a first series of white papers are under development, reviewing the current status quo and articulating a forward-looking vision for ML/AI grounded in ethical principles and European values. A special focus is given to a review of the EU AI Act and how it relates to Destination’s Earth work. These documents will serve as a cornerstone for future developments, offering insights and guidelines that reflect the latest advancements and ethical considerations in AI.
The papers will also review activities already ongoing to answer ethical concerns, for example the work ECMWF and DestinE are doing to increase AI literacy with its users and ensure transparency on methods and data used in forecasts.
Florian Pappenberger, Deputy Director-General of ECMWF, highlights that “At ECMWF, building trust in our forecasts has always been central to our mission, as even the highest-quality forecast holds little value without user confidence. The AI Act presents an important moment to reflect upon and enhance our approach to the ethical and responsible development of AI-driven forecasting systems, reinforcing our commitment to transparency and accountability in line with emerging standards for high-risk AI applications.”
The contract also includes the development of practical guidelines and checklists to ensure seamless implementation of ethical principles in DestinE ML/AI projects. This effort aims to bridge the gap between theoretical ethical frameworks and their real-world application, reinforcing DestinE’s commitment to responsible AI development in line with EU approaches and guidelines.
Drawing from the contractors’ extensive knowledge and project experience in the areas of trustworthy AI practices and assessment of AI systems, the guidelines particularly use the Fraunhofer AI Assessment Catalog as a starting point.
“In our joint white paper with ECMWF, we explore the pivotal role of Ethical AI in transforming weather and climate forecasting. By integrating ethical practices into AI development, we ensure that our technological advancements serve the greater good and promote sustainability.” -says Dr. Carolin Busch, Head of AI Public Sector, Atos Germany
The team of contractors has a solid experience in the field, ensuring the design of a coherent and robust strategy, up to date with the fast developments in ML/AI.
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation and European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing. For the ‘Development and Implementation of Ethical Machine Learning Strategies for Destination Earth’ project, Atos will put the focus on trust, innovation, and sustainability to develop ethical AI and boost confidence in future technologies.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS is one of the leading applied research institutes for big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence in Europe. Following a person- and value-centric approach, Fraunhofer IAIS has made major contributions to applied research on ethical and trustworthy AI, such as the AI Assessment Catalog.
Under the leadership of the EU Commission, DestinE is boosting it’s ML/AI activities during the second phase of the initiative (2024-2026). ECMWF has issued several contracts within this framework, including the development of a climate and weather chatbot or an emulator of the Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin (Climate DT).
Destination Earth is a European Union funded initiative launched in 2022, with the aim to build a digital replica of the Earth system by 2030. The initiative is being jointly implemented by three entrusted entities: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) responsible for the creation of the first two ‘digital twins’ and the ‘Digital Twin Engine’, the European Space Agency (ESA) responsible for building the ‘Core Service Platform’, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), responsible for the creation of the ‘Data Lake’.
We acknowledge the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking for awarding this project strategic access to the EuroHPC supercomputers LUMI, hosted by CSC (Finland) and the LUMI consortium, Marenostrum5, hosted by BSC (Spain) Leonardo, hosted by Cineca (Italy) and MeluXina, hosted by LuxProvide (Luxembourg) through a EuroHPC Special Access call.
More information about Destination Earth is on the Destination Earth website and the EU Commission website.
For more information about ECMWF’s role visit ecmwf.int/DestinE
For any questions related to the role of ECMWF in Destination Earth, please use the following email links: