Nicosia: Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Irini Loizidou Nikolaidou, Executive Director of the University of Limassol, Ioanna Panagiotou, and General Secretary of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philokypros Rousounides, have signed a consortium agreement for the co-funded Data ProTech project. The initiative aims at protecting personal data when using artificial intelligence.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the Data ProTech project, titled ‘Supporting Data Protection Compliance in AI Technology Usage by Cyprus SMEs,’ is designed to bolster personal data protection for small and medium-sized enterprises utilizing artificial intelligence. The project is part of the European Citizens, Equality Rights and Values CERV-2024-DATA program and will span two years with European funding amounting to £250,000.
The project will focus on enhancing the capabilities of SMEs in Cyprus to adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the European Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (EU) 2024/1689. Key activities include conducting a comprehensive survey of AI usage by SMEs and identifying compliance criteria for these regulations. An electronic tool will be developed for enterprises to perform self-assessments of their regulatory compliance.
Additionally, training seminars will be organized to instruct SMEs on the effective use of this tool. The program and the tool, although primarily targeting SMEs in Cyprus, will also be applicable to larger enterprises both within Cyprus and across Europe.