Following the Call for Challenges, which drew 126 applications from twelve countries, the FMIA 2026 unveils the selected challenges and the ecosystem of experts who will support them at the Forum in Marseille.
The Mediterranean Forum on Artificial Intelligence has set itself the mission of bringing about a Mediterranean “third way” for AI, built on cooperation, trust and a grounding in local realities. The Call for Challenges, launched in summer 2026, was its first concrete expression: 126 challenges were submitted by organisations from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and several other countries on both shores, and beyond. This response confirms that AI issues now arise at the scale of the Mediterranean basin, and that the region has an ecosystem ready to address them collectively.
A demanding selection based on three criteria
After a structured review, sixteen challenge holders were selected from the 126 applications received. Their proposals are organised around eleven major challenges across five priority sectors. The selection was based on three criteria: project maturity, with a preference for proven initiatives that already have users and first references, so that co-creation builds on operational realities; regional impact, meaning the ability of the challenges to go beyond the case of the lead organisation and address shared issues; and relevance to the Forum, that is, their contribution to the reflection on a Mediterranean AI of cooperation.
Five sectors, eleven challenges, projects already under way
In agriculture, the challenges cover a Euro-Mediterranean partnership to accelerate innovation in plant genetics, and access to useful AI for smallholder farmers, including those without connectivity, notably with Sowit, a Moroccan precision agriculture specialist.
In water and maritime, the aim is to develop a Mediterranean value chain that turns marine waste into biomaterials, led in particular by CHITELIX, to deploy AI tools against coastal plastic pollution with Recycllux, and to implement the Union for the Mediterranean’s strategic framework on the digital transformation of the water sector.
In health, the challenges concern clinical governance and data protection for AI dedicated to autism (TayfLink, DEFUSE), access to partners and testing grounds for dermatological AI (Krancos, Think Touch Solution, ProovLab), and the integration of trusted assistants into the care pathway (CHIFAA, Mamabox, SanoX).
In industry, they target a new generation of intelligent industrial infrastructure, with Amperon Technologies and BIM Flow, and a shared view of value chains and regional industrial maturity, led by INTAJ.
Finally, in democracy, AMSA-AI is adapting an open-source civic assistant to local languages, dialects and institutional realities to strengthen citizen participation.
On the day: an ecosystem of experts to support the challenges
On 5 November 2026, at the Palais du Pharo in Marseille, the sixteen challenge holders will meet sixty-six experts selected in advance from among researchers, companies and institutions on both shores of the Mediterranean. In France, this ecosystem includes the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the City of Marseille, Nice University Hospital, IRD in Montpellier, the Health Data Hub, GHU Paris psychiatrie & neurosciences, CNRS and Teladoc Health. In the north of the basin, it includes The Cyprus Institute, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and WAREG, the European association of water regulators. In the south, it draws on Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane in Morocco; on CARE – Cercle d’Action et de Réflexion pour l’Entreprise / IPv6 Forum Algeria and the Algiers Regional Council of the Medical Association in Algeria; on the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies and the municipality of Mahdia in Tunisia; on Egypt4Industry and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Egypt; and on the Professional Computer Association of Lebanon (PCA) in Lebanon.
Expected deliverables
The Forum aims to produce concrete results for each challenge. Depending on the nature and maturity of each one, the co-creation work may lead to a pilot project, reciprocal commitments between partners, the formation of a coalition, or a roadmap with a testing protocol. These deliverables, which will be presented at the end of the Forum, aim to turn the discussions in Marseille into committed action at Mediterranean scale.
