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KIKu project launched - ATHENE researchers develop app to support cultural and investigative authorities

09/11/2021

A central challenge in combating the illegal trade in stolen cultural property is that illegally traded objects are difficult to identify. The KIKu project - AI for the Protection of Cultural Property - funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, aims to facilitate the work of the responsible actors, especially customs and police: To this end, researchers at Fraunhofer SIT are working with cosee GmbH to develop an app that uses artificial intelligence to provide automated information on whether, for example, an antique vase or statue could come from a looted dig or was illegally acquired in some other way.

The project was presented yesterday to numerous relevant actors in the field of cultural property protection from Germany and the EU, who came together at the invitation of Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters for the 7th EU CULTNET meeting within the framework of the German EU Council Presidency.

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